Ukraine war live: NATO downs drone over Lithuania, Russian frigate fires flares at Danish helicopter

Danish PM slams ‘reckless action’ of Russian frigate firing flares

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has condemned Moscow’s «reckless action» after a Russian frigate fired flares at a Danish military helicopter in the Baltic Sea.

«Reckless action from Russia towards Danish military during a routine overflight yesterday. Russian actions are meant to intimidate and divide. They will not succeed. We will not waver,» Frederiksen said in a statement on X.

Denmark says Russian frigate shot flares at helicopter

A Russian warship has fired two emergency flares at a helicopter in the Baltic Sea, with the Russian ambassador summoned over the incident, Danish officials have said.

«One of the air force’s Fennec helicopters was today fired at with flares during a routine photographic operation of a Russian frigate, which was located in international waters off Gedser,» the armed forces said in a statement late Monday. 

The frigate had fired «two flares towards the helicopter. One of the flares passed at close range to the helicopter.»

Danish foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the incident was «completely unacceptable», adding that the Russian ambassador had been summoned.

Drone shot down by NATO over Lithuania

NATO fighter jets shot down a drone over Lithuania, the Baltic state’s president said Tuesday, in the latest security incident on the alliance’s eastern flank during Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – NATO members sharing a long border with Russia – regularly report drone incursions since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

«A drone that just entered Lithuanian airspace was destroyed by NATO fighter jets,» Gitanas Nauseda wrote in a post on X.

«With Russia intensifying its aggression against Ukraine, such readiness is vital for our region,» he added.

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NATO scrambled fighter jets overnight to ​shoot down a drone over Lithuania after the latest incursion on the alliance’s eastern flank.

Military drones straying into NATO airspace have raised growing concerns that Russia’s war in Ukraine could spill over the alliance’s borders.