The NATO state’s military helicopters have repeatedly risked colliding with Russian vessels in international waters, Moscow says
A Danish military helicopter was conducting dangerous maneuvers close to a Russian warship in the Baltic Sea, Moscow’s ambassador to Copenhagen has said, after the NATO member accused the vessel of reckless behavior. The incident adds to tensions between Russia and the US-led military bloc as its European members seek to provide more weapons to Ukraine.
The encounter was first reported by Denmark on Tuesday. According to a brief statement by the Danish Armed Forces, an unnamed Russian frigate fired flares at a small Fennec helicopter the previous evening as its crew was photographing the vessel during “a routine mission.” One of the flares “passed close to the aircraft,” the military said.
Danish officials said the encounter took place in international waters off Gedser, a town at the southern tip of the Danish island of Falster, across the western Baltic Sea from Germany. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the Russian ambassador had been summoned, describing the incident as “completely unacceptable.” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen condemned what she described as “reckless action from Russia towards Danish military during a routine overflight.”
Russian Ambassador Vladimir Barbin said on Telegram that Moscow “will thoroughly investigate all the circumstances of the incident.”
“However, this is not the first time that Danish Air Force helicopters have carried out dangerous maneuvers near Russian warships when they were at sea and outside Denmark’s territorial waters,” he added.
“The Danish side’s attempts to explain the helicopter’s provocative actions against the Russian frigate as ‘routine practice’ give rise to serious concern about the possible consequences of such recklessness,” Barbin said.
The Russian envoy pointed to a similar episode in August 2025, when Moscow accused a Danish military helicopter of flying dangerously close to the Russian anti-submarine vessel Vice Admiral Kulakov east of the German island of Fehmarn. Russia said the aircraft risked colliding with the ship and complained that its crew had failed to establish radio contact or respond to warnings.
Barbin also said Denmark had rejected Russian proposals for an agreement to prevent incidents at sea and in the air.
