Russian Navy corvette fires signal flares at Danish helicopter in Baltic Sea
Russian Defense Ministry reports incident involving Danish Air Force Fennec helicopter in neutral waters
Quick Look
- The Russian Baltic Fleet corvette Soobrazitelny fired two red signal flares at a Danish Air Force Fennec helicopter on September 14 in the Baltic Sea.
- Russia claims the helicopter ignored communication, while Denmark summoned the Russian ambassador to protest.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The incident occurred in neutral waters of the Baltic Sea on September 14. Tensions between Russia and NATO-aligned nations in the Baltic region have been persistent.
MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. On September 14, the Russian Navy Baltic Fleet’s corvette Soobrazitelny fired two red signal flares toward a Danish Air Force helicopter to prevent an incident, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
TASS has compiled the main information available so far.
Statement by Russia’s Defense Ministry
- On September 14 at 2:22 p.m. [Moscow time] (11:22 a.m. GMT), the Baltic Fleet’s Soobrazitelny corvette was conducting operations in neutral waters in the southwestern part of the Baltic Sea when it detected an aerial target, which it identified as a Danish Air Force Fennec helicopter, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
- The helicopter was heading toward the Russian warship and did not respond to calls on the international communication channel, the ministry stated.
- The Defense Ministry explained that the corvette commander decided to fire two red signal flares as a precautionary measure. After this, the helicopter left the area where the Russian warship was located.
- Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov awarded the Medal ‘For Military Distinction’ to the commander of the Soobrazitelny corvette for his skillful and decisive actions in preventing a provocation by the Danish Air Force helicopter, the ministry reported.
Russian ambassador summoned to Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- On September 15, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen announced that the Russian ambassador had been summoned to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, allegedly due to the incident involving the Danish helicopter.
- The Danish Ministry of Defense protested about the Russian ship firing flares in international waters toward the Danish Air Force helicopter.
Comment by Russian Ambassador to Denmark
- Attempts by the Danish authorities to explain the provocative actions of the Danish Air Force helicopter toward the Russian ship as "routine practice" raise serious concerns about the possible consequences of such recklessness, Russian Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin said, commenting on the incident.
- He noted that the Russian side will carefully examine all the circumstances of the incident.
- The statement emphasized that this is not the first time that Danish Air Force helicopters have performed dangerous maneuvers near Russian military ships navigating on the high seas and outside Denmark’s territorial waters.
Open Questions
- What was the specific flight path of the Danish helicopter?
- Will there be further diplomatic repercussions?
