Denmark accused a Russian warship of launching two emergency flares at one of its military helicopters during a surveillance operation in the Baltic Sea.
The Danish government summoned the Russian ambassador to protest the incident, which occurred during a routine monitoring mission on Monday.
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the Russian action reckless and suggested it was intended to intimidate and divide.
Moscow has not issued any comment on the incident.
The event coincided with NATO forces downing a drone over Lithuania, marking the latest security incident on the alliance’s eastern flank amid heightened tensions from Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Danish armed forces said that an air force Fennec helicopter came under flare fire during a routine photographic operation targeting a Russian frigate situated in international waters off Gedser.
The statement noted that one of the two flares passed close to the helicopter.
The Danish foreign ministry described the incident as completely unacceptable.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen accused Russia of gradually expanding the boundaries of acceptable behavior, stating that such conduct is unacceptable.
During the night, NATO fighter pilots intercepted and shot down a drone that entered Lithuanian airspace.
Authorities said the drone probably entered southern Lithuania near Kaunas, the country’s second‑largest city, from neighboring Belarus just after midnight on Tuesday.
The Lithuanian national crisis management centre said the drone’s origin remains undetermined, though President Gitanas Nausėda attributed the incident to heightened Russian aggression in recent months.
President Gitanas Nausėda posted on X: “With Russia escalating its aggression against Ukraine, maintaining readiness is essential for our region; together with NATO allies, Lithuania will defend its airspace.”
Lithuania shares a substantial portion of its southern and eastern border with Belarus, a key Russian ally.
Poland also announced that aviation operations occurred in its airspace on Monday night because of Russian Federation jet‑propelled unmanned aerial vehicles conducting strikes on Ukrainian territory.
It said the overnight operations were preventive and aimed at securing and protecting airspace, particularly in regions adjacent to threatened areas.
NATO jets have been scrambled multiple times this year to intercept stray Ukrainian drones that entered the Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia.
Ukraine attributes the stray drones to Russian electronic warfare, a technology intended to alter Ukrainian drone flight paths.