Off Denmark: Frigate from Russia fires on Danish helicopter

Narrowly missed

Russian warship fires on Danish helicopter

An incident occurred off the Danish island of Falster. A Russian ship fired on a Danish Air Force helicopter.

A Russian warship fired two flares at a Danish military helicopter on Monday. One of them narrowly missed the Fennec helicopter. This emerges from a report from the Danish Coast Guard.

The incident occurred in international waters off Gedser, a small town on the southern tip of the Danish island of Falster. As the Danish armed forces said, the Fennec was on a routine patrol flight during which its crew was photographing the Russian frigate. The warship is then said to have fired two so-called flares, i.e. flares, in the direction of the helicopter.

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According to Danish Defense Minister Jeppe Bruus, no one was injured. The helicopter was not damaged either. Flares are pyrotechnic lighting devices. At sea they are used, among other things, as signals and attention signals.

The government in Copenhagen responded forcefully to the incident. Defense Minister Bruus described the incident to the Ritzau news agency as serious. He sees this as a sign that Russia willing to take greater risks. The minister described the actions of the crew of the Russian warship as “highly unprofessional”.

The incident also had diplomatic consequences Baltic Sea: Denmark summoned the Russian ambassador. Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen will ask the Russian representative to speak about the incident, Bruus announced. The Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen did not announce a date for the meeting, and Danish government representatives did not initially promise any further immediate measures.

Denmark does not want to change the surveillance missions in the North and Baltic Seas as a result of the incident, Defense Minister Bruus explained on Monday. The army is pursuing the legitimate task of observing what is happening in its surroundings – including in international waters off the Danish coast.

The incident off the Danish coast follows a period of heightened tension on the eastern flank of the country NATO one that also includes Denmark. It was only at the weekend that Russian drones attacked targets in western Ukraine right on the border with the NATO member Poland to. A drone hit a passenger train on the route between near the Jahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing Kyiv and Warsaw. Poland sent out fighter planes because of the attacks. Since then, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned of further Russian provocations and a possible spread of the danger into NATO territory.