Russia and Denmark trade accusations over Baltic Sea aerial incident

Russia has accused Danish military helicopters of making dangerous manoeuvres near its warships in the Baltic Sea and handed an official note to Copenhagen complaining about such incidents, according Russia's ambassador to Denmark, Russia's RIA state news agency reports.

Vladimir Barbin, the ambassador, was speaking after the Nordic NATO member's military said that a Russian frigate had fired two flares towards a Danish military helicopter in international waters off Denmark on Monday, narrowly missing the aircraft.

Denmark's Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus told Reuters no warning or radio contact was made before a Russian frigate fired the flares.

He said the flares passed within "a matter of metres" of the helicopters.

RIA cited Mr Barbin as blaming Denmark for the episode.

"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," it cited Mr Barbin as saying.

Asked about the matter, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not have details and was not in a position to comment.

Mr Barbin was quoted by RIA as saying he had complained about another 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'," RIA quoted him as saying.

Such manoeuvres posed a collision risk and could have interfered with the Russian ship's equipment, he added, saying the helicopter had not established radio contact or responded to warnings at the time.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday that the spread of the Ukraine-Russia war to the Black Sea and threatening the safety of Turkish citizens was unacceptable, adding that attacks in vessels in the region were harming navigational safety.

Speaking at a press conference alongside his counterpart in Azerbaijan's Baku, Mr Fidan said Türkiye had intensified its efforts to find a solution to the war through an agreement, without elaborating.

Russian forces hit a cargo ship and a ferry carrying military supplies in Ukraine's port of Chornomorsk, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday.