Russia has accused Danish military helicopters of carrying out dangerous manoeuvres near its warships in the Baltic Sea and has handed Copenhagen an official note of protest, Moscow’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, said on Tuesday. The accusation came after the Danish military said a Russian frigate had fired two flares towards a Danish military helicopter in international waters off Denmark on Monday, narrowly missing the aircraft.
“I demanded that the Danish side take the necessary measures to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future, and handed over a note to that effect,” Barbin said. Russia’s state-run RIA news agency quoted Barbin as saying that he had raised concerns over a similar incident last year.
“In September 2025, during a meeting at the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I was forced to draw attention to dangerous fly-bys and low-altitude hovering carried out on 27 August by a Danish Air Force helicopter over the large anti-submarine ship ‘Vice-Admiral Kulakov’,” he said.
Barbin said the manoeuvres had created a risk of collision and could have interfered with the Russian vessel’s equipment. He added that the Danish helicopter had not established radio contact with the warship or responded to warnings at the time. The latest accusations come amid heightened tensions between Russia and NATO members in the Baltic Sea, where military aircraft and naval vessels from both sides frequently operate in close proximity.