Russia Fires Flares at Danish Helicopter in Baltic — SkimNews
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- A Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish Air Force Fennec helicopter during a "routine photographic operation" over a Russian frigate in international waters off Gedser on Monday, with the Danish armed forces stating one flare passed close to the aircraft.
- Denmark summoned Russian ambassador Vladimir Barbin over the incident, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen branding Russia's action "reckless" and designed to "intimidate and divide," while Danish Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus noted the frigate's crew made no attempt to contact the helicopter before firing.
- Russia pledged to "thoroughly investigate all the circumstances" but accused Danish helicopters of "provocative actions" and "dangerous manoeuvres," with Barbin blaming "communication problems" on the Danish side and citing a previous complaint from last year.
- EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Russia's behavior "reckless and dangerous," saying the flare incident and a separate drone incursion over Lithuania were "part of a broader pattern of Russian aggression and provocation against Europe."
- On the same day, NATO fighter pilots shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace near Kaunas, likely originating from neighbouring Belarus shortly after midnight on Tuesday, according to Lithuania's national crisis management centre.
- Poland announced preventive "aviation operations" overnight due to Russian jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory, marking the latest in a string of Russian-drone-related airspace incidents across NATO's eastern flank this year.
Why it matters: Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen's charge that Russia is "gradually shifting the boundary for what they consider acceptable behaviour" frames the flare incident as deliberate boundary-testing rather than miscalculation. The 24-hour window also saw NATO jets shoot down a drone over Lithuania and Poland scramble to intercept Russian strike drones near its border, compressing the alliance's response timeline on its eastern flank.
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