They were aiming: Russian ships openly threatened Danish ships and helicopters

Denmark has released a new hybrid threat assessment, which states that Russia is waging a systematic pressure campaign against the country. The Director of the Defense Intelligence Service, Thomas Arenkil, stated that there is a high risk of sabotage by an aggressor state and emphasized that Moscow is using military means to intimidate Denmark and NATO.

According to the report, Russian warships passing through the Danish Straits were equipped with sonar and jamming systems, which in some cases were likely to cause serious GPS disruptions.

Moreover, as reported by TV2 Nyheder, there have been open confrontations: Russian ships have aimed their weapons at Danish warships and helicopters in Danish territorial waters. According to Arenkil, there have also been incidents where Russian ships have deliberately collided with Danish ones.

“Russia is using military force to try to intimidate Denmark and force it to abandon compliance with shipping rules in the Baltic Sea,” the head of the Defense Intelligence Service stressed.

In addition to naval provocations, Russia is increasingly violating the airspace of NATO countries using drones.

The report emphasizes that the risk of military provocations is assessed as high, while the danger of cyberattacks is defined as medium, and information influence operations as low. The actual probability of a direct military attack is currently described as absent, but Russia is actively using hybrid methods to “blur the line between war and peace and sow doubts in the minds of target groups.” In the context of the analysis, Russia and China are also mentioned as states that systematically resort to such methods.

The European Union’s response is focusing on increasing situational awareness, crisis preparedness, and coordination with allies, including NATO.

It should be noted that over the past month, the activity of unknown drones over Denmark has increased. Thus, in the north of the country, the operation of Aalborg Airport was temporarily suspended due to the appearance of drones in the airspace.

Later, the situation repeated itself. On the evening of September 25 , Aalborg Airport, located in North Jutland, was also temporarily closed due to drones.

Against this backdrop , France, Germany, and Sweden announced the deployment of military and counter-drone equipment to Denmark , where a European summit was recently held.