The Danish Defence Command has published a detailed account of a September 14 incident off Gedser, stating that a signal flare fired from a Russian frigate passed 10 to 15 meters from a Danish Fennec helicopter.
DR reports that the Defence Command set out the sequence of events in a written description published on September 25. The command says it released the details because of what it calls factually incorrect Russian accounts of the episode.
According to the Defence Command, details from photographic reconnaissance operations are normally withheld for operational reasons. The mission was described as routine photographic coverage of a Russian frigate. Such vessels have been photographed in similar fashion at regular intervals since 2022.
Per Forsvaret, the ship involved was the frigate Soobrazitelny, and the flight took place in international waters off Gedser.
The sequence of events
The Defence Command states that the helicopter was visible to the frigate from a long distance. During the encounter, the crew observed no attempts at contact from the frigate over radio frequencies.
The crew then saw a trail of light smoke behind the helicopter, which was about 200 meters above the sea. Shortly afterward, a signal flare was fired from the ship toward the aircraft. It passed roughly 10 to 15 meters away while the helicopter was about 150 meters above the water.
The crew broke off the photographic coverage and left the area. The pilot of the Fennec helicopter says the task was carried out exactly as normal, with no threatening or provocative behavior. According to the pilot, the helicopter was never closer than about 150 meters to the frigate, within the rules it flies under.
Other accounts of the incident
Reuters reported the initial Danish account on September 15, stating that two flares were fired and that one narrowly missed the aircraft. The agency also reported that there was no warning or radio contact beforehand. Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus said one flare came within a matter of meters of the helicopter.
BBC added that the Danish government summoned the Russian ambassador after the incident. The broadcaster described the flight as routine monitoring in international waters off Gedser.
Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, has said the Danish helicopter acted provocatively in the run-up to the firing of the flare. The Defence Command’s published account rejects that characterization of the flight.
The incident remains the subject of separate Danish reporting on the Russian warship route mapped in the days around the encounter. Earlier coverage of the Russian frigate firing flares at a Danish helicopter near Gedser set out the initial Danish statements.
