Drones target Danish airports after suspected Russian incursion

 Drones have flown over multiple airports across Denmark, including two used by the military, in what officials have called a “hybrid attack”.

The incidents, which occurred on Wednesday, two days after a drone “attack” forced Copenhagen airport to shut, were a systematic and hybrid operation by a “professional actor,” Denmark’s defence minister said on Thursday.

Troels Lund Poulsen told a press conference: “There can be no doubt that everything points to this being the work of a professional actor when we are talking about such a systematic operation in so many locations at virtually the same time.

“This is what I would define as a hybrid attack using different types of drones.”

Mr Lund Poulsen said there is no evidence to suggest Russian involvement as of yet, adding that the drones were launched “locally”.

It is unclear where the unmanned aircraft were deployed from, but “they have not come from a long distance”, he said.

The defence minister said a decision was made not to shoot down the drones for the safety of the population.

After the latest provocation, Alexey Meshkov, the Russian ambassador to France, said shooting down a Russian jet in Nato airspace would be an act of war.

He said: “You know, there are many Nato planes that violate Russian airspace, deliberately or not, but it happens quite often. They are not shot down afterward.”

Despite officials being careful not to point the finger at Moscow, Denmark has raised the issue with Nato and could invoke Article 4 to convene an emergency meeting of allies.

Demark will be involved in a meeting of countries on the EU’s eastern flank on Friday to assess how to deter Russian aggression with a so-called “drone wall”.

European security concerns have spiralled following recent Russian drone incursions into Poland and Romania, and the violation of Estonia’s airspace by Moscow’s fighter jets.

Peter Hummelgaard, Denmark’s justice minister, said the armed forces were looking to acquire enhanced capabilities to “detect” and “neutralise drones”.

He added: “The goal with this kind of hybrid attack is to create fear and divisions, and make us scared.”

The Danish police has raised the crisis level in the country for the second time this week.

The unidentified drones were spotted at Denmark’s airports in Aalborg, Esbjerg, Sonderborg and at the Skrydstrup air base before leaving on their own late on Wednesday, police said.

Aalborg airport, one of the country’s biggest after Copenhagen, was shut down before reopening several hours later. The country’s armed forces were affected as Aalborg airport is used as a military base.

‘Not possible to take down drones’

Speaking about the incident in Aalborg, North Jutland chief police inspector Jesper Bojgaard Madsen said: “It was not possible to take down the drones, which flew over a very large area over a couple of hours.”

Skrydstrup in Southern Jutland is also the base for Denmark’s F-16 and F-35 fighter jets.

Police said they could not specify the type of drones or if they were the same as the ones that flew over Copenhagen airport on Monday.

“It is too early to say what the goal of the drones is and who is the actor behind,” a police official said.

Unidentified drones flew close to Copenhagen and Oslo’s airports, the two busiest in the Nordic region, on Monday night, forcing both to close and leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s prime minister, on Tuesday described the Copenhagen incident as the “most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure” to date.

“This is part of the development we have recently observed with other drone attacks, airspace violations, and cyberattacks targeting European airports,” Ms Frederiksen said.

Denmark is investigating whether the drones that shut down Copenhagen incident on Monday were launched by Russia-linked ships, a theory also under scrutiny in Germany after drone sightings near its military bases and other critical infrastructure.

The countries are working together to determine whether the incidents are connected. Danish police said a “capable operator” was behind the alleged attack.

Europe is on high alert after a large-scale drone incursion into Poland earlier this month that prompted Nato to deploy warplanes to shoot them down.

At least 19 drones entered Warsaw’s airspace on the night of Sept 9 to Sept 10, four of which were downed in the first direct engagement between Nato and Moscow.

Days later, three Russian fighter jets violated Estonian airspace, sparking frantic Nato discussions over what the alliance’s reaction should be and how far Russia intends to go.

EU and Nato officials have argued that Russia is deliberately trying to probe European defences and test its response.

‘A hole in our preparedness’

Peter Viggo Jakobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, said that the incidents show that Denmark, a Nato and EU member, does not have the capacity to respond to the intrusions.

“This is a hole in our preparedness,” he told Reuters, adding that he believes Russia is behind the provocations.

“The Russians... are doing what they’ve been really good at for a long time: they’re going right to the edge of what would trigger a military response from Nato, but not over it,” he said.

Moscow has denied being behind the Copenhagen incident, and rejected accusations from the governments of Poland, Estonia and Romania over drones or airspace violations by fighter jets.

Denmark last week announced it will acquire long-range precision weapons for the first time, citing the need to be able to hit distant targets as Russia would pose a threat “for years to come”.

Russia’s ambassador to Copenhagen, Vladimir Barbin, had called the statement “pure madness”.

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Meanwhile, US fighter jets were forced to intercept four Russian warplanes flying near Alaska, marking the hird time this month Moscow’s aircraft have flown close to American soil.

The North American Aerospace Defence Command said it detected and tracked two Tu-95s and two Su-35s operating in Alaska’s air defence zone late on Wednesday.

The possible provocation came after Donald Trump said that Nato countries should shoot down Russian aircraft that violate their airspace.