Drone sightings lead to the blocking of two airports. An expert explains who plugs behind and how security could be improved.
Around 100 flights failed at the weekend at Copenhagen Airport. The reason was the sighting of several drones. How they came from is still unclear. The Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen spoke of the “previously heaviest attack on Danish critical infrastructure”. The Oslo Airport also stopped operating the same night, and drones are said to have been discovered there too.
The incidents occurred after Russia had recently entered the airspace of NATO countries. However, there is still no evidence of a connection.
Security expert Gustav Gressel also sees a high probability for a Russian attack in the T-Online interview. He also explains what the drones could have done and how the airports could be better protected in the future.
T-online: The incidents follow several injuries to the NATO air space by Russia. The Kremlin has rejected a participation. Can you still assume that Russia is behind this attack?
Gustav Gressel: It is suspected that Russian actors are behind it. However, you cannot prove it because the facts are very thin. The video material only shows a blurry point. I can’t draw any conclusions about which drones it was. The Danes said that the drones are too big to be commercially available, but you can hardly draw real conclusions. With three pixels at night you can not even see whether there are drones with wings or rotors.
But does the incident fit the Russian approach?
Of course that fits. It is not the first drone incident at airports. London Heathrow was paralyzed several times in Great Britain. In Germany, educational drones have scanned Bundeswehr locations in order to spy on critical infrastructure. We already know that partly Russian -speaking people were responsible. It fits into the picture. That’s why I suspect a very tight.
Denmark apparently identified three ships with Russian connections that were not far from the airport at the time. It is believed that the drones have started from there. How realistic is that?
It is possible. However, it is a problem that these ships are rarely checked, also because they are often accompanied by Russian naval ships. Therefore, there is a large inhibition threshold to provide these ships. Russia takes advantage of that.
How can Europe be countered there?
