The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has summoned the ambassador of Denmark in Moscow, Rolf Holmboe, for consultations this Wednesday, to convey a formal protest regarding the approach of a Danish military helicopter to a Russian frigate in the Baltic Sea. According to the Russian version, the episode occurred on September 14, the same day Copenhagen reported the launching of flares against a helicopter of its Air Force off its coast.
The Russian diplomacy has presented a "strong protest" to the Danish representative, whom it has accused of "unprofessional and provocative actions of a Danish Air Force Fennec helicopter against the Russian Navy ship Soobrazitelny." Moscow maintains that these events occurred "in neutral waters of the southwestern Baltic Sea."
According to the account disseminated by Moscow, the aircraft "approached dangerously" to the Russian vessel, remaining in a hover less than 50 meters above the corvette, something that, in the opinion of the Russian authorities, "posed a real threat to navigation safety, with the consequent risk of a direct or indirect collision and interference with the ship's equipment."
"All warnings about the dangerous altitude of the helicopter, repeatedly transmitted by the Russian crew on international frequencies, were ignored. To attract attention, the corvette fired two flares in the opposite direction of the helicopter, after which it ceased its provocative actions and left the area of the ship," it has assured in a statement, referring to the complaint from Copenhagen.
The department headed by Sergei Lavrov has emphasized that these "dangerous" maneuvers represent a "serious violation" of International Law and Maritime Law, and has described the accusations made by the Danish authorities regarding the incident as "unacceptable and absurd." "They do not withstand rigorous analysis," the Ministry has pointed out.
"Given the increasing tensions in the Baltic region, directly related to the rise of NATO's anti-Russian military activity, the repetition of such reckless actions could provoke an escalation and generate the risk of a serious incident," the Russian diplomacy has warned, alerting to the possible impact of new similar episodes.
...In mid-September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark had already summoned the Russian ambassador in Copenhagen, Vladimir Barbin, to protest the alleged launch of two flares from a Russian frigate against a Danish military helicopter in international waters near the Danish coast, pointing out that one of them passed "at a short distance" from the aircraft.
On that occasion, the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, harshly criticized Moscow for "a reckless action" against the helicopter, which was participating in "a routine flight."