Tense! Russian Warship Fires Flares at Danish Helicopter
A Russian warship fired two emergency flares at a Danish military helicopter over the Baltic Sea. The incident prompted the Danish authorities to summon the Russian ambassador.
The Danish Defence Command, as reported by AFP and Reuters on Tuesday (15/9/2026), said the flares passed dangerously close to the military helicopter. The incident reportedly occurred in international waters off the coast of Denmark on Monday (13/9) local time.
The flares were fired as the Danish military helicopter carried out a routine mission photographing the Russian warship.
“One of the Air Force’s Fennec helicopters was fired upon with flares today while conducting a routine photographic operation against a Russian frigate, which was in international waters off the coast of Gedser,” the Danish Armed Forces said in a statement on Monday (14/9) evening.
One of the flares reportedly passed very close to the Danish helicopter. Flares are pyrotechnic devices typically used as warning signals at sea.
“Two flares were fired towards the helicopter. One of the flares passed at a very close distance from the helicopter,” the statement said.
The incident occurred on the same day that NATO fighter jets shot down a foreign drone detected in Lithuanian airspace. Both are the latest security incidents on NATO’s eastern flank, as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to rage.
Denmark and Lithuania are both Baltic states and members of the NATO alliance.
Danish Foreign Minister Condemns Flare Fire, Summons Russian Ambassador
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen condemned the incident as “unacceptable”. He summoned the Russian ambassador to discuss the matter.
“This is completely unacceptable and could endanger human lives,” Rasmussen said in a statement on Tuesday (15/9).
“For that reason, I have summoned the Russian ambassador to discuss the incident,” he said.
“From our side, Denmark is working to ensure that all shipping can pass safely through Danish waters, but Russia is gradually shifting the boundaries of what they consider acceptable behaviour,” Rasmussen said, warning Moscow.
“This is something we cannot accept,” he stressed.
The Russian Embassy has not yet responded to the incident or the summoning of Moscow’s ambassador.