Mysterious drone flights in NATO airspace have caused alarm across Europe. Heres what we know

BERLIN (AP) — Mysterious drone flights over the airspace of European Union member nations in current weeks have alarmed the public and elected officers.

Intrusions into NATO’s airspace, some of them blamed on Russia, reached an unprecedented scale last month. Some European officers described the incidents as Moscow testing NATO’s response, which raised questions about how ready the alliance is against Russia.

On Sept. 10, a swarm of Russian drones flew into Poland’s airspace, forcing NATO plane to scramble to intercept them and shoot down some of the devices. It was the first direct encounter between NATO and Moscow since Russia launched its all-out struggle on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Days later, NATO jets escorted three Russian warplanes out of Estonia’s airspace.

Since then, flyovers have occurred close to airports, navy installations and vital infrastructure, among other areas, elsewhere on the continent and prompted European protection ministers to agree to develop a “drone wall” along their borders to better detect, monitor and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace.

Russia has been blamed for some of them, but denies that something was achieved on objective or that it performed a function. European authorities have not launched a lot element about the drone intrusions, with some not acknowledging the overflights publicly until days later.

Other instances, authorities have been unable to affirm a report of a sighting. At one level, Danish authorities have been flooded with 500 ideas of sightings over 24 hours — some of which turned out to be just stars in the sky.

Countries are scrambling to determine how to reply in the second, including weighing whether or not to permit authorities to shoot the drones down.

Here’s what we know about some of the current drone sightings:

Airport closures across Europe

Germany’s Munich Airport reopened Saturday morning after authorities shut it down the night time before for the second time in less than 24 hours after two further drone sightings. Delays have been anticipated to continue throughout Saturday and at least 6,500 passengers have been impacted by the in a single day closure.

In Denmark, drones flew over Copenhagen Airport on Sept. 22, inflicting a major disruption to air site visitors in and out of Scandinavia’s largest airport.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that Russian involvement couldn’t be ruled out, calling it “the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.”

Meanwhile, a report of a drone sighting occurred the same night at Norway’s Oslo Airport, forcing all site visitors to one runway. Authorities have been investigating whether or not there was a hyperlink between the 2 major airports.

Danish navy websites focused

Drones also flew over 4 smaller Danish airports between Sept. 24 and Sept. 25, including two that serve as navy bases. Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said that a “professional“ actor was likely behind the ”systematic flights.”

In the same time body, a number of Danish media retailers reported that one or more drones have been seen close to or above the Karup Air Base, which is Denmark’s greatest navy base.

The protection ministry refused to affirm the sighting at Karup or elsewhere, and said that “for reasons of operational security and the ongoing investigation, the Defense Command Denmark does not wish to elaborate further on drone sightings.”

Critical infrastructure in Germany

In Germany, authorities are investigating claims that unidentified drones might have spied on vital infrastructure in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein. Multiple drones have been noticed on Sept. 25 over a energy plant in the state capital of Kiel, as properly as close to a college hospital and a shipyard in the port metropolis, according to a Der Spiegel report.

Regional Interior Minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack told a committee of the state parliament that flying objects of “various types and sizes” had been noticed. Chief Public Prosecutor Stephanie Gropp said an investigation was underway.

Der Spiegel said that two small drones had been seen over the Kiel manufacturing facility premises of TKMS, a maritime protection applied sciences supplier.

Later, a “combined drone formation” was noticed over the college hospital and a energy plant, and other drone sightings have been reported over governmental buildings and the Heide oil refinery in the world, the report said.

Further suspicious drones have been noticed over a navy base in Sanitz, in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state to the east, the weekly reported.