Denmark protests after latest incident with Russia

Denmark accused a Russian warship of firing two emergency flares at one of its military helicopters over the Baltic Sea, the government said Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.

The helicopter was tracking the vessel as part of what Denmark described as a routine monitoring operation when the flares were fired.

The Danish government summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the incident. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the Russian action “reckless” and said it was designed to “intimidate and divide.”

Denmark has not said which type of helicopter was involved, where in the Baltic Sea the incident took place, or whether the flares came close enough to pose a direct risk to the aircraft or its crew.

Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, said this was not the first time Danish Air Force helicopters had carried out what he described as dangerous maneuvers near Russian warships operating in open water outside Denmark’s territorial waters, according to Russian statements on the incident.

The confrontation adds to a run of incidents between Danish forces and Russian vessels in the Baltic Sea and the straits connecting it to the North Sea. In December 2024, a Russian warship fired a flare at a German military helicopter on a routine patrol in the same waters, an episode NATO also treated as a warning sign about the growing frequency of close encounters in the region. Denmark’s Defence Intelligence Service has separately reported that Russian warships have aimed weapons and tracking radars at Danish naval vessels and air force helicopters while transiting the Danish straits, incidents it has called deliberate provocations.

Denmark has also dealt with a string of drone incursions and unexplained naval activity near its coast over the past year, including a Russian landing ship that lingered off the island of Langeland during a period of airport disruptions in September 2025. Danish officials have not tied Monday’s flare incident to those earlier episodes, and the government has not announced any additional military or diplomatic measures beyond summoning the ambassador.