Denmark says Russian warship fired flares at military helicopter
Denmark says Russian warship fired flares at military helicopter. Image source, Rune Dyrholm / Danish Armed ForcesImage caption, File pictureByHenry MoorePublished15 September 2026, 11:12 BSTUpdated 7 hours agoDenmark has accused a Russian warship of firing two emergency flares at one of its helicopters while it was tracking the vessel in the Baltic Sea.
What happened
In a statement detailing the incident in the Baltic Sea, the Danish armed forces said: "One of the air force's Fennec helicopters was today fired at with flares during a routine photographic operation of a Russian frigate, which was located in international waters off Gedser. Russia said it would "thoroughly investigate" the incident but accused Danish helicopters of making "dangerous manoeuvres" near Russian warships. "Of the two flares fired at the helicopter, one passed close to it, the statement added.
Barbin said this was "not the first time that Danish Air Force helicopters have carried out dangerous manoeuvres near Russian warships". "In a statement, Russian ambassador Vladimir Barbin said Moscow would "thoroughly investigate all the circumstances of the incident" but accused the Danish helicopter of carrying out "provocative actions". Related topicsDenmarkWar in UkraineRussiaNatoLithuaniaEuropeMore on this storyRussia's new jet-powered drones outpacing Ukraine's air defences with daily launchesPublished5 days agoSuspected sabotage causes major Netherlands rail disruptionPublished2 hours agoRussia hits Ukrainian train shortly after Boris Johnson and top European officials leave stationPublished1 day ago
The Danish government has summoned the Russian ambassador over the incident, which it said happened during a "routine" monitoring operation on Monday.
The wider picture
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen branded the Russian action "reckless" and said it was designed to "intimidate and divide". He said he had complained about a similar incident last year, adding that the latest event showed that "communication problems lie not with the Russian Navy's vessels, but with the Danish side". This incident – together with the drone over Lithuania – was "part of a broader pattern of Russian aggression and provocation against Europe", she added. Danish Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus told Reuters no attempt to make contact with helicopters had been made by the frigate's crew.
The origins of the drone have yet to be determined, the Lithuanian national crisis management centre said, but the country's president pointed to increased Russian aggression in recent months. "Lithuania shares a large part of its southern and eastern border with Belarus, a key Russian ally. Poland also announced there had been "aviation operations" in its airspace on Monday night "due to the activity of Russian Federation's jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory".
Ukraine has blamed the stray drones on Russian electronic warfare, technology designed to change the flight paths of Ukrainian drones.
What has been reported
The Danish prime minister has accused Russia of "reckless" behaviour, while the Kremlin is yet to comment. It came on the same day that Nato forces shot down a drone over Lithuania in the latest security scare on the alliance's eastern flank, where tensions remain high amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Danish foreign ministry described the incident as "completely unacceptable". Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen accused Russia of "gradually shifting the boundary for what they consider acceptable behaviour", adding: "That is something we cannot accept.
Russia's behaviour was "reckless and dangerous," the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on social media. Overnight, Nato fighter pilots shot down a drone that entered Lithuania's airspace. Authorities said the drone likely entered southern Lithuania, near the second-largest city of Kaunas, from neighbouring Belarus shortly after midnight on Tuesday. President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X: "With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region.
What happens next
Together with our Nato Allies, Lithuania will defend its airspace. It said the overnight operations were of a "preventive nature" and aimed at "securing airspace and its protection, especially in areas adjacent to threatened regions". Nato jets have been scrambled several times to shoot down stray Ukrainian drones that have crossed into Baltic countries Estonia and Latvia this year.