2 days ago
Danish PM says 'cannot rule out' Russian involvement
Danish PM Frederiksen spoke briefly with reporters this morning.
Asked by DR if the incident could be linked to Russia, she struck a rather cautious tone, but said:
“I cannot rule out that it is Russia. We have seen drones over Poland that should not have been there. We have seen activity in Romania. We have seen violations of Estonian airspace. We have seen hacker attacks on European airports over the weekend.
Now there have been drones in Denmark, and it appears that there have been drones in Oslo and Norway as well.
Therefore, I can only say that, in my view, this is a serious attack on critical Danish infrastructure.”
In comments reported by DR, she added that the intent could have been “to disrupt and create unrest, concern; see how far you can do and test the limits.”
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Norway says Russia violated Norwegian airspace three times this year
In a separate statement issued after Nato meeting earlier today, the Norwegian government has joined in condemnation of Russia’s violation of Estonian airspace last week.
But it also revealed that Russia has violated Norwegian airspace three times over spring and summer this year.
“The incidents in Norway are smaller in scope than the violations against Estonia, Poland and Romania, in terms of both location and duration. They are nevertheless incidents that we view very seriously,” Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.
He added that two incidents occurred over the sea northeast of Vardø in April and August, and the third over an uninhabited area along the land border in East Finnmark in July.
The border violations – involving fighter jets SU-24, SU-33 and L410 Turbolet aircraft – lasted between one and four minutes, he said, noting that Norway could not determine if they were deliberate or “due to navigation errors.”
“Regardless of the reason, this is not acceptable and we have made that clear to the Russian authorities,” Støre said.
Jakub Krupa
We should hear from Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte in the next half hour or so, too and I will bring you all the key lines here.
Russia's actions are 'escalatory, risk miscalculation, endanger lives,' Nato says
Nato’s North Atlantic Council, which brings together all the allies, said it “strongly condemns” Russia’s “dangerous” violation of Estonian airspace last week.
In a strongly worded statement, it said the incursion was “part of a wider pattern of increasingly irresponsible Russian behaviour.”
“This is the second time in two weeks that the North Atlantic Council has met under Article 4,” it said, with the first meeting called after the large-scale violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones.
It added that “several other Allies – including Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Romania – have also recently experienced airspace violations by Russia.”
“Russia bears full responsibility for these actions, which are escalatory, risk miscalculation and endanger lives. They must stop.”
The alliance stressed that it would “reinforce our capabilities and strengthen our deterrence and defence posture, including through effective air defence.”
“Russia should be in no doubt: Nato and Allies will employ, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military tools to defend ourselves and deter all threats from all directions. We will continue to respond in the manner, timing, and domain of our choosing. Our commitment to Article 5 is ironclad.”
The statement stressed that “allies will not be deterred by these and other irresponsible acts by Russia from their enduring commitments to support Ukraine, whose security contributes to ours, in the exercise of its inherent right to self-defence against Russia’s brutal and unprovoked war of aggression.”
Russia denies involvement in drone incident over Copenhagen airport
Meanwhile, Russia denied that it was connected to the drone flights that forced Copenhagen airport to close its airspace for hours overnight, after Denmark’s prime minister said she could not rule out Russian involvement, AFP reported.
“We hear unfounded accusations from there every time. Perhaps a party that takes a serious, responsible position shouldn’t make such unfounded accusations time and again,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing call.
Denmark to join EU meeting on 'drone wall' this Friday
EU defence spokesperson Thomas Regnier also added that Denmark has now joined a group of frontline countries expected to talk with EU defence commissioner Andrius Kubilius for talks about the EU’s “drone wall” this Friday.
Other countries involved are Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania.
Drone incidents in Denmark, Norway fit pattern of Russian behaviour, EU spokesperson says
Speaking at the daily press briefing, EU foreign policy spokesperson Anitta Hipper has just responded to the incidents in Denmark and Norway last night, saying the incidents fit a pattern of “reckless” Russian actions.
She said:
“We have seen the incident, and we’re in full solidarity with Denmark, but also with Norway … and we commend them already for for the swift action, so we still need to wait for the final outcome.
But what we have seen throughout the last weeks points out to Russia in terms of their reckless actions in at least three member states – first Poland, then Romania and most recently, Estonia.
What we have seen in terms of Russia is that they have not ‘accidentally’ violated the airspaces of EU member states, but this was an intentional violation of the European airspace and here we see a clear pattern.
Russia is testing the European borders also probing, our resolve and undermining our security.”
She later added:
“We still need to wait for the final outcome of investigation, so we will not prejudge this, but when we are putting the things in into context, while again, not prejudging the results of this investigation of the authorities, we have seen a clear pattern when it comes to launching drones violating our airspace, and this points out to Russia.”
At least two dead in Ukraine after Russian drone, missile attacks overnight
Russia said that it shot down three dozen Ukrainian drones heading toward Moscow while Ukraine said that Russian missiles, drones and bombs killed at least two civilians on Tuesday, AP reported.
Russian aircraft dropped five glide bombs on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia during the night, killing a man, regional head Ivan Fedorov said Tuesday.
In the Odesa region of southern Ukraine, Russian ballistic missiles struck the town center of Tatarbunary, killing a woman, regional head Oleh Kiper said Tuesday morning.
Overall, Russian forces launched three Iskander ballistic missiles and 115 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian air force said.
Meanwhile over in Russia, Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that more than 40 Ukrainian drones flying toward the Russian capital were shot down between Monday evening and midday Tuesday.
Flights were temporarily halted overnight in and out of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, causing delays and cancellations, because of the attack, AP noted.
Nato meeting on Russian incursion into Estonian airspace
Just a reminder that Nato is meeting this morning to discuss the Russian incursion into Estonian airspace last Friday.
We should hear from the alliance’s secretary general Mark Rutte around 11:45 BST (12:45 CEST).
Danish PM says 'cannot rule out' Russian involvement
Danish PM Frederiksen spoke briefly with reporters this morning.
Asked by DR if the incident could be linked to Russia, she struck a rather cautious tone, but said:
“I cannot rule out that it is Russia. We have seen drones over Poland that should not have been there. We have seen activity in Romania. We have seen violations of Estonian airspace. We have seen hacker attacks on European airports over the weekend.
Now there have been drones in Denmark, and it appears that there have been drones in Oslo and Norway as well.
Therefore, I can only say that, in my view, this is a serious attack on critical Danish infrastructure.”
In comments reported by DR, she added that the intent could have been “to disrupt and create unrest, concern; see how far you can do and test the limits.”
Danish army involved in investigation into Copenhagen drones
The Danish armed forces are understood to be involved in the investigation into last night’s drone disruption at Copenhagen Airport, Danish broadcaster TV2 reported.
There has been no update on what happened to the drones that disrupted the operations at Copenhagen airport last night.
Danish media earlier questioned whether they came from the land or from the sea, but authorities declined to offer more detail at this stage of the investigation.
But they concluded that the drones were flown by “what we would call a capable operator.”
“It’s an actor who has the capabilities, the will and the tools to show off in this way,” Danish police chief superintendent Jens Jespersen told reporters earlier today.
Danish authorities investigating 'very serious incident' at airport, note seriousness of impact on critical infrastructure
Copenhagen police and Danish security and intelligence service, or PET, are now giving a press conference, reported by Danish media, with authorities warning that the reported incident amounted to “a very serious situation.”
Flemming Drejer, PET’s operational director, acknowledges that, given the international context, Denmark faces a hightened level of threat of sabotage. All possible options and links are being looked at, he says.
Anne Tønnes, director at Copenhagen Police, also highlights that the incident amounted to a serious violation of Danish law.
Danish media note that Tønnes repeatedly referenced the incident as “attack,” noting its impact on the country’s critical infrastructure.
This concludes the press conference, but there’s a suggestion this is not the last time we’ve heard from them today.
Morning opening: Drones paralyse Nordic airports
Jakub Krupa
The airports in Copenhagen and Oslo, the two busiest in the Nordic region, were shut for hours last night after drones were observed in their airspace late on Monday, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded as flights were diverted, delayed and cancelled.
The Danish and Norwegian authorities are understood to be in contact in case the two incidents were linked, NRK reported.
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen told broadcaster TV2 in a written comment that the disruption at Copenhagen was “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.”
“It says something about the times we live in and what we as a society must be prepared to deal with,’ she said, adding the authorities were “not ruling out any options in relation who is behind this.”
She added:
“And it is clear that this fits in with the developments we have seen recently with other drone attacks, airspace violations and hacker attacks on European airports.”
Who could she possibly be thinking of?
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to believe that Russia was behind the incident, raising it during a meeting with IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva.
The official readout on the president’s website said the pair “discussed Russia’s violations of the airspace of Nato member states, including … in Copenhagen.”
“The President emphasised that if there is no resolute response from the allies – both states and institutions – to these provocations, Russia will continue its aggressive actions, testing the societies of European and Nato countries,” it said.
We should hear from the Danish police shortly and get more updates throughout the day.
I will bring you all the key updates here.
It’s Tuesday, 23 September 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
