UPPING THE ANTE

Vladimir Putin Accused of Sending Drones Into NATO Capital Cities

Flights were halted in and out of the two cities for hours after drones were sighted days after Russian incursions into two other NATO members’ airspace.

Vladimir Putin is being blamed for a series of drone incursions that shut down airports in two NATO capital cities and led to massive disruptions to flight traffic.

Air traffic controllers in Copenhagen shut down arrivals and departures for a space of roughly four hours late Monday night, affecting more than 20,000 passengers after three drones were spotted nearby. Flights were also halted in and out of Oslo, with tens of thousands affected.

The disruptions come hot on the heels of Russian violations of two other NATO member countries’ airspace over the past two weeks. Estonia has described the entry of three Russian fighter jets on Friday as “unprecedentedly brazen,” while Poland, where NATO forces shot down at least 20 Russian drones earlier, has warned “this situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War II.”

The Estonian government has since invoked NATO’s Article 4, outlining member states’ obligation to mutual self-defense in the event any one of them comes under attack, sparking emergency consultations across the alliance.

Given these developments, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quick to point the finger at the Kremlin for Monday’s drone sightings in Denmark and Norway, writing in an X post that at a meeting in New York he had “devoted special attention to Russia’s violations of the airspace of NATO member states, including on September 22 in Copenhagen.”

While authorities in Denmark and Norway have yet to name any suspects, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederikson said Monday night, “I certainly cannot deny in any way that it is Russia,” adding that the incident represented “the most serious act so far against Danish critical infrastructure.”

Moscow, for its part, has denied any involvement, with the Russian ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, saying it “reveals a clear desire to provoke NATO countries into a direct military confrontation with Russia.”

SHOW OF FORCE

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Events of the past two weeks nevertheless appear to underscore a new and deliberate Russian strategy of testing European defenses and political cohesion as the European Union weighs a new package of sanctions against the Kremlin, in particular targeting oil tankers that form part of Moscow’s lucrative, sanctions-busting “shadow fleet.”

EU leaders are now set to discuss a “collective response” to the airspace violations in Estonia and Poland at an upcoming European Council meeting, scheduled for Oct. 1 in Copenhagen.

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