By Stine Jacobsen
COPENHAGEN, Sept 15 (Reuters) – A Russian frigate fired two flares towards a Danish military helicopter in international waters off Denmark on Monday, narrowly missing the aircraft, the Nordic NATO member’s military said.
The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after incidents involving gas pipeline outages, airspace violations and drone sightings since Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, all of which have increased tensions between Moscow and the West.
The Fennec military helicopter had been on a routine mission to photograph the Russian frigate, the Danish defence command said in a statement late on Monday.
One of the flares — pyrotechnics usually used as a warning signal at sea — passed close to the helicopter, the defence command said.
The Russian embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DENMARK SAYS RUSSIA IS GETTING MORE AGGRESSIVE
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the incident was serious but not surprising, calling it part of a pattern in which an increasingly aggressive Russia has intensified its hybrid warfare against Europe and is testing NATO.
“Russia wants to sow fear and discord. Our answer is to stand closer together and strengthen the defence of Denmark and Europe,” she said in a statement.
Hybrid attacks are typically classified as incidents of aggression that fall short of acts of war.
Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called the incident “unacceptable” and said it could have endangered human lives.
“Denmark is working to ensure that all shipping can pass peacefully through Danish waters, but Russia is gradually moving the line for what it considers acceptable behaviour,” he said in a statement.
He said he had summoned Russia’s ambassador to Denmark for a meeting.
KEY WATERWAY FOR SHIPPING, OIL
The Danish straits are the main sea route in and out of the Baltic Sea for commercial and military shipping. They are also a major artery for global oil shipments, including from Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers used to circumvent Western sanctions.
Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service said last year that Russian warships had repeatedly sailed on collision courses with Danish vessels, targeted Danish helicopters and ships with tracking radars, and pointed weapons at them in the straits.
Russia has dismissed accusations over such incidents and repeatedly denied carrying out hybrid attacks in Europe.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Soren Jeppesen in Copenhagen, editing by Terje Solsvik, Andrew Heavens and Hugh Lawson)
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