The drone incursion that stopped flights at Copenhagen airport on Monday evening was “probably the most extreme assault on Danish infrastructure thus far”, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen mentioned.
Kastrup airport in Copenhagen was pressured to close for a number of hours from round 20:30 (18:30 GMT) on Monday following the sighting of quite a few drones.
“It says one thing concerning the instances we dwell in and what we as a society should be ready to cope with,” Frederiksen instructed reporters.
Russian involvement couldn’t be dominated out, Frederiksen added – though Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to as the allegations “unfounded”.
The Danish PM made a hyperlink between final evening’s occasions in Denmark and the current Russian drone incursions in Poland and Romania, as well as the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets.
Frederiksen mentioned that the motive for the incursion in Copenhagen had seemingly been to “disrupt, create unrest… to see how far you may go and check the bounds.”
Danish intelligence mirrored this evaluation, saying the nation was dealing with a “excessive risk of sabotage”.
“Somebody could not essentially wish to assault us, however fairly stress us out and see how we react,” mentioned Flemming Drejer, director of operations at Denmark’s intelligence service PET.
In close by Norway, Oslo airport too was closed for a interval after attainable drone sightings.
Round 20,000 passengers have been impacted by the closure of Copenhagen airport, which resumed operations after midnight native time.
Earlier on Tuesday Danish police acknowledged they didn’t know who was behind the drones, however that proof instructed it was a “succesful actor.”
Plenty of massive drones which had come from totally different instructions “fairly a great distance away” had been noticed at Copenhagen airport, mentioned police Inspector Jens Jespersen.
He added the drones, which turned their lights on and off as they approached the airport, had been operated by somebody who had the “will and instruments to indicate off… maybe additionally to apply.”
Police didn’t shoot down the drones as a result of the airport is positioned in a densely built-up space and since there have been planes within the air, Insp Jespersen instructed reporters.
In a put up on social media Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky referenced “Russia’s violation” of Nato airspace in Copenhagen on 22 September.
Insp Jespersen refused to touch upon Zelensky’s allegations.
“It is not as a result of I do not wish to, it is as a result of I merely do not know,” he mentioned.
The Norwegian Police Safety Service mentioned it was working to make clear whether or not the unconfirmed drone sighting at Oslo airport might be associated to the drones noticed in Denmark.
Oslo airport was closed between 00:30 and 03:30 and fourteen flights needed to be diverted.
Norway’s authorities mentioned Russia has violated Norwegian airspace thrice in 2025 – in April, July and August – including that it was unclear if this was deliberate or the results of navigation errors.
“Whatever the trigger, this isn’t acceptable,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Retailer mentioned.
Tensions have been escalating just lately after Russian drones and plane ventured into central and jap European airspace, three and a half years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier in September at least three Russian drones were shot down by Polish and other Nato aircraft in Poland’s airspace. Moscow denied it had been attempting to focus on amenities on Polish soil.
The same incident occurred in Romania only a few days later when a drone flew into Romanian airspace earlier than disappearing from the radar.
And on Saturday three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian skies and remained there for 12 minutes, main Nato jets to be scrambled. The incursions have been a part of a “wider sample of more and more irresponsible Russian behaviour,” Nato mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday.
In current days Poland acknowledged it will shoot down any objects that violated its airspace, whereas Sweden promised to do the identical if it noticed any Russian plane in its skies.
In response to Russia’s incursions into Poland and Romania, Nato has pledged to maneuver troops and fighter jets eastwards.
Planes from the UK, France, Germany and Denmark are participating in air defence missions over Poland in a bid to bolster the alliance’s jap flank.
