COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The Danish defense ministry said Sunday it had again observed drones at several of its armed forces’ locations overnight, a day after NATO announced it would enhance its vigilance in the Baltic Sea region.
The ministry said in a statement it had “several capacities deployed” after drone sightings from Saturday into Sunday night. It didn’t offer any further details about the specifics of the deployment, the number of drones or locations.
This is the latest unexplained drone activity after several sightings, including over five Danish airports last week, raising concerns about security in northern Europe amid suspected growing Russian aggression.
Following a NATO meeting in Riga, Latvia, on Saturday, Colonel Martin O’Donnell, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe spokesperson, announced that “we will conduct even more enhanced vigilance with new multi-domain assets in the Baltic Sea region, which includes Denmark, under Baltic Sentry.”
He also said NATO leaders were in constant contact with Danish officials following the drone sightings.
As Denmark gears up for the upcoming European Union Summit in Copenhagen, the Danish transportation ministry said Sunday that “all civilian drone flying in Danish airspace will be prohibited” from Monday to Friday to “remove the risk that enemy drones can be confused with legal drones and vice versa.”
Tensions have been running high in Denmark in recent days following reports of drone activity, and hundreds of possible sightings reported by concerned citizens that couldn’t officially be confirmed. Nonetheless, the public has been asked to report all suspicious activity to the police.
Danish Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard said on Sept. 25 the goal of the flyovers is to sow fear and division, adding that the country will seek additional ways to neutralize drones, including proposing legislation to allow infrastructure owners to shoot them down.
While it is not clear who is behind the drone activity, Denmark’s prime minister and NATO’s secretary-general said last week that Russian involvement couldn’t be ruled out.
The Russian embassy in Denmark last week rejected claims of Moscow’s involvement in the incidents.
In Ukraine, officials reported that Russia over the weekend unleashed a barrage of drones and missiles that killed at least four people, including a 12-year-old girl.
This is the first major bombardment since an air attack on Kyiv left at least 21 people dead last month.
Russia fired a total of 595 exploding drones and decoys and 48 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday. Of those, air defenses shot down or jammed 566 drones and 45 missiles.
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