Denmark has summoned Russia’s ambassador after accusing a Russian frigate of firing two emergency flares at a Danish military helicopter during a monitoring operation in the Baltic Sea on Monday.
The Danish government said one of the air force’s Fennec helicopters was carrying out a routine photographic operation of the frigate in international waters off Gedser when the flares were fired. Two flares were launched and one passed close to the helicopter, Denmark said.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the Russian action “reckless”. The foreign ministry described the incident as “completely unacceptable”, while Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said Russia was “gradually shifting the boundary for what they consider acceptable behaviour”.
The ambassadorial summons marked Denmark’s formal diplomatic response to an encounter that each country has described in sharply different terms. Denmark has characterised the helicopter’s mission as routine monitoring of a vessel in international waters. Russia has said Danish helicopters have acted dangerously around its warships.
Russian ambassador Vladimir Barbin said Moscow would “thoroughly investigate all the circumstances of the incident”. He said this was “not the first time that Danish Air Force helicopters have carried out dangerous manoeuvres near Russian warships”.
Barbin said he had complained about a similar incident last year. He gave no details of that episode, and Russia did not specify the manoeuvres it says the Danish helicopter carried out in the latest encounter.
Denmark’s Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus told Reuters that the frigate’s crew had made no attempt to contact the helicopters. The brief does not establish what prompted the deployment of the flares, whether it was deliberate or accidental, or the precise circumstances aboard the Russian vessel.
No specific Russian frigate was identified. The available information also does not state whether the incident caused injuries or physical damage.
The dispute is a fresh point of friction in the militarily contested Baltic Sea, where NATO member Denmark shares waters with Russia. It centres on competing accounts of what constitutes legitimate conduct during aerial and naval operations. Denmark says its helicopter was observing a Russian frigate in international waters, while Russia says Danish aircraft have flown in a dangerous manner near its warships.
For now, the two governments have set out rival accounts rather than a shared description of the incident. Denmark’s decision to summon the ambassador signals the seriousness with which it views the flare firing, while Russia has said it will investigate the circumstances and has renewed its own complaint about Danish helicopter activity.
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