Once in a while we’ll hear of airport operations being interrupted by unauthorized drones. However, last night we saw what seems to be a pretty unprecedented drone attack on a major airport.
Continue reading: Wild: Massive Drone Attack Shuts Down Copenhagen Airport
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A forensic examination of any debris will likely find tell-tale signs of their fabrication and source. Let's withhold judgment until findings are released.
"It sure seems like Russia may be involved in some form"
Maybe let's just wait for the investigation no?
So, Ben, you still think that we should care about russian civilians in their stolen planes?
Without knowing the full facts, one is minded to suspect the following three possible culprits:
1. Russia. (Obviously)
2. Belarus. (Possibly)
3. Ukraine. (Perhaps)
Now I know that to many people Ukraine is far too ‘left of arc’. However, think undersea cables and who has much to gain by blackening the name of Russia.
Sure smells like Russians. After all, they just flew drones into Poland not too long ago. They'll keep this up until they are forcefully stopped. And if you let them win in Ukraine, next will be the Baltic countries, then Poland.
Undersea cables? You mean the Nordstream sabotage, which was the only thing Ukraine was actually implicated in and was done because it was Russian state-owned property keeping Germany on the Russian energy teat and funding the Russian war machine? Because the two recent undersea cable cuttings in the Baltic sea were both done by ships coming out of Russia, one of which (Eagle S) was part of the Russian dark fleet and the other two being Chinese vessels (Newnew Polar Bear and Yi Peng 3).
Ukraine has nothing to gain by shutting down CPH for a day. Russia's name is already mud, and it'd be far too easy for any downed/malfunctioned drone to lead investigators back to Ukraine. Quite simply, Zelensky and his intelligence services aren't anywhere near stupid enough to try something like this. Russia does it as part of their standard playbook though, and Belarus marches to Putin's orders.
Another day, another Zionist distraction. And another Mossad attack on freedom and democracy.
Looking at the pattern of recent incidents, this Copenhagen drone attack has Russia's fingerprints all over it. Just in the past few weeks we've seen Russian drones violate Polish airspace (shot down by NATO), Russian jets buzz Estonian airspace for 12 minutes, and a ransomware attack hit major European airports including Heathrow and Brussels.
The sophistication here - "unusually large" drones possibly launched from ships - screams state-sponsored operation, not some amateur with a hobby drone. Russia's playbook is pretty clear: probe NATO defenses, disrupt critical infrastructure, test response times, all while maintaining plausible deniability. They're escalating the hybrid warfare but staying just below the threshold that would trigger Article 5.
Denmark's PM is right to call this a "grave attack on key infrastructure." This isn't coincidence - it's coordinated intimidation designed to show Europe that Russia can reach their airports, their airspace, their critical systems whenever they want. The message is clear: we can disrupt your daily life and there's not much you can do about it.
Time for Europe to stop treating these as isolated incidents and start responding to the broader campaign.
It's hard to judge what was that in Poland. Drones that small won't make it from Russia into Poland. Plus, none of them carried explosive charges.
Ukrainians - those could do this, but drone warfare now became accessible to even small groups of activists, it could be anyone really. Ukrainians are losing on the battlefield, are running thin on manpower, and desperately need to pull other parties into the war. Right now, nobody wants to go fight for them, but Poles may find themselves in a situation where they have to join the fight.
That theory doesn't hold up well when you look at the evidence. Ukraine has nothing to gain from shutting down Copenhagen Airport for a few hours - it would be a massive strategic own-goal that could jeopardize Western support. Plus, if any drone malfunctioned or was captured, forensic analysis would immediately trace it back to Ukrainian sources, which would be catastrophic for Zelensky diplomatically.
Russia, on the other hand, has been systematically probing European defenses with the exact same playbook - the Polish drone swarm, the Estonian airspace violations, the Collins Aerospace cyberattack. This fits their hybrid warfare doctrine perfectly: maximum disruption with plausible deniability.
The "false flag to blame Russia" angle falls apart because Russia's reputation is already in the gutter after nearly 4 years of war. There's no need for Ukraine to stage elaborate operations to make Russia look bad - Russia does that plenty on its own with actual attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Occam's razor applies here: when you see a pattern of escalating infrastructure attacks across Europe, the simplest explanation is usually the right one.
I'd be careful taking this stance. Today you are blaming Russians in everything, and one not so wonderful day you find yourself in a hugely escalated war until the last Pole, Estonian, Finn...
What a time to be alive. Now cheap drone warfare became accessible to so many small parties. Anyone really can be launching such drones and causing multi-million dollar damage in disrupting major airports flights. It can be groups of local "green" activists, cartels, terror groups - many personages really.
Well, by prolonging the war Europeans let the genie out of the bottle. Somehow I don't see a reason to feel anything bad for them.
Good grief! There's no need to taunt. Guy can't get every call right, and there's room for reasonable people to disagree.
Also, lil tip for ya - if you're trying to convince someone to come around to your way of thinking, ridiculing them for what you believe to be their past missteps isn't the best way to go about it.
Russian troll (Anrec80) - learn basic sentence structure in English before trolling.
"It sure seems like Russia may be involved in some form"
Maybe let's just wait for the investigation no?
- Investigations start with theories, GRkennedy. If a cluster of events with hallmarks of Russian activity happen in quick succession, it's logical to examine Russia as a possible culprit.
Those small cheap drones now can be 3D-printed and assembled in virtually any garage or a small improvised basement shop. This is how Ukrainians make them. They aren't necessarily factory assembled even.
Ukraine is losing this war and is in desperate need to pull other parties into it. Plus, the regime in Kiev isn't really a government in a sense Europeans understand - where there is clear subordination, control, following orders. It's more like a gathering of competing gangs there. No strong and clear subordination, everyone has their own game, and nobody controls anyone or anything up to 100% degree. There, it could easily be done by an intelligence general or even a colonel, without anyone's approval.
Fair. Modern FPV drones can be assembled from readily available components and 3D-printed parts. Ukrainian workshops have definitely demonstrated this capability at scale.
However, the Copenhagen incident involved what authorities described as "unusually large" drones that operated for hours and possibly launched from ships offshore. That suggests something beyond garage-built FPV units - we're talking about drones with extended range, significant payload capacity, and sophisticated navigation systems to coordinate a multi-hour airport shutdown.
@Anrec80
Is that what they're saying on RT? You need more believable propaganda. Here's the facts:
1. Russia has used Belarus as a launchpad for drone incursions over the past several months, sending Gerbera type (think simplified Iranian Shahed design) drones first into the Baltics and then into Poland. These aren't quadcopters, these are large drones that can fly hundreds of miles to a target.
2. It does not matter one iota whether they carried explosives or not, they violated multiple other sovereign countries' airspaces, putting both aircraft and people on the ground at risk.
3. Russia has a VERY long history of "gray-zone" warfare. Actions like cyberwarfare, cutting undersea cables, sabotaging infrastructure, and assassinating political dissidents in foreign countries, all of which are intended to cause harm to Russia's neighbors and get them to bend to Russia's influence but without triggering open warfare.
The minute NATO, even without the US, puts skin in the game, Russia's incursion is done. The gap in capabilities between what's left of Russia's air force and even just Poland and France is hilarious. It would look like Desert Storm all over again.
To some people, if from a distance a bird looks like a duck, sounds like a duck and takes flight like a duck then they assume that it must be a duck. Those people also tend to forget that on closer inspection it could turn out to be a goose …. 🙂
thank you.
It is clear that it is up to Europe to fund and enforce whatever support Ukraine for the long term
This isn't an isolated incident.
I guess Russia would be an obvious suspect herel. Only problem with that theory is that Denmark isn't bordering Russia and this incident doesn't line up with its usual methodology.
Another country that has the ability and motivation to disrupt Denmark is the US. With trump trying to take Greenland away from Denmark, it would be in their interest to destabilize Denmark. Perhaps not super likely, but possible, and with the cry baby in power anything is possible.
Let's face it, for all the work Russia has done to destabilize parts of the world, that work pales in comparison to the track record of the US.
@Tim Dunn
The US still has a responsibility to Ukraine. We signed the Budapest memorandum, we are obligated to ensure Ukraine's security. This isn't just an EU problem, letting Russia get away with Ukraine shows China that we won't go to bat for Taiwan either. Where does that end? Will we go to bat for Poland or the Baltics? For Finland? For the Philippines or Japan? Like or not we ARE the de facto leaders of the democratic world, and abdicating our role as the world police for lack of a better term encourages states like Russia and China to try their luck. If we leave Ukraine to die, we'd be walking into a new World War when we finally do react to a red line.
@AeroB13a That's a patently silly reading of my comment and you know it. Far from a war cry - my comment is just basic pattern recognition. When someone keeps testing your locks and probing your defenses, you don't ignore it until they kick down the door. Taking sensible measures in response to past provocation and to protect against future incursions is not a "war cry."
@Tim Dunn While Europe should coordinate on this, it would be foolish to leave our European allies twisting in the wind when a plain reading of recent history shows that Putin's ambitions are far grander than just taking back a bit of Europe. Add to it vital treaty obligations. Article 4 has been invoked once - on 9/11, to benefit the US. We show our treaty promises to be meaningless if we're not willing to continue to show up for our allies the way they showed up for us then.
@AeroB13a
You are not coming across as clever or open-minded here. There is no instance of Ukraine violating an EU country's airspace with drones. There is one (1) possible instance of Ukraine sabotaging an undersea, Russian state-owned pipeline. There are at least four (4) prior instances of Russia violating EU countries' airspace with drones, and by my count at least three (3) instances of a Russian or Russian-aligned vessel cutting undersea cables by dragging their anchors on the seabed. There's no need for Ukraine to engage in something like this that could easily backfire on them, when Russia is already doing everything it can to ruin what little reputation it had.
@Tim Dunn Quick correction - hit the wrong key, meant to write Article 5, not Article 4.
@Dusty Exactly right. Anrec80's comment hits every classic disinformation talking point - "could be anyone," "Ukraine is desperate," "small drones can't fly that far." It's almost like they're reading from a script.
The facts are clear: Russia has been systematically using Belarus as a launch point for these long-range Gerbera drones for months. The forensic evidence from the wreckage confirms Russian origin. Polish and NATO officials wouldn't stake their credibility on "maybe it was activists" - they have radar tracks, debris analysis, and intelligence showing exactly where these came from.
The "no explosives" argument is particularly weak. If I fly an unauthorized aircraft through JFK airspace, I don't get to claim it's harmless because I wasn't carrying bombs. Airspace violations shut down civilian aviation and put lives at risk regardless of payload.
Russia's betting that people won't connect the dots between the cable cutting, the cyberattacks, the airspace violations, and now this. They want us debating "who could it be?" while they probe our defenses.
Don't fall for it.
@Anrec80 Yeah, this is classic Russian troll behavior - deflect blame, sow confusion, then victim-blame Europeans for "prolonging the war" by... checks notes... helping a sovereign nation defend itself against an unprovoked invasion.
The "genie out of the bottle" line is particularly telling. Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia is launching these drone attacks, but somehow it's Europe's fault for not just letting Putin take whatever he wants? That's some impressive mental gymnastics.
What exactly is Europe supposed to do according to your logic? Roll over and let Russia annex its neighbors piece by piece? Because that worked out so well in the 1930s, right?
The pattern is clear: Russia attacks, then blames everyone else for the consequences of their own aggression. "Look what you made me do" is abuser logic, not geopolitical analysis.
Nice try though. Maybe next time lead with "I'm not defending Russia, but..." - that's usually how these comments start.
@AeroB13a - Attempting to parse your metaphor. When you see coordinated drone swarms launched from Russian territory, using Russian-designed aircraft, following established Russian gray-zone tactics, during an active Russian military campaign... sometimes it really is just a duck.
Your "could be a goose" metaphor falls apart when we have radar tracks, debris analysis, and a clear pattern of escalating Russian provocations across multiple NATO countries. This isn't about assumptions - it's about evidence.
But sure, let's entertain every wild theory while Russia systematically probes European defenses. I'm sure that's exactly the kind of confusion they're hoping for.
@Arie That's... quite a reach. The US launching drone attacks on Copenhagen Airport because of Greenland? Come on.
Denmark not bordering Russia is irrelevant - Russia's been projecting power far beyond its borders for years. The Baltic Sea is practically a Russian lake operationally, and they've demonstrated the ability to launch drone operations from ships.
More importantly, this fits perfectly with Russia's established pattern: the Polish drone swarm two weeks ago, Estonian airspace violations, cyberattacks on European airports. They're systematically testing NATO responses across multiple vectors.
Your "US has a worse track record" whataboutism doesn't change the evidence here. Russia has motive (pressure NATO), means (demonstrated drone capabilities), and opportunity (ongoing campaign against European infrastructure).
The US attacking a close ally's airport over a diplomatic dispute that's been ongoing for years? That's not geopolitics, that's conspiracy theory territory.
No fair reading of the historical record would put the US on the same moral level as Putin's Russia. This from a Swede who frequently disagrees with American foreign policy.
What a time to be alive, when it is equally plausible that it could either be the US or Russia terrorizing a democratic country.
Just absolutely insane the level of apologetics people will get to, up to and including ignoring past behavior, patterns of behavior, and forensic evidence that behavior left behind, just to try to appear open minded or fair. It's the enlightened centrism midwittery but for international relations.
@Dalameda
Not even close to equally plausible, and if you truly believe it is you need a refresher on Russia's post-USSR history.
Vladimir is mad. Time to double down on assistance to Ukraine and help them shut down some Russian airports. Is there no Russian patriot who is willing and able to give his life for his country to end that stupid war?
Now, I’m not a “shoot now, ask later” kind of guy, but I’m a bit surprised something of this scale would not activate a more robust defense. How could they have known that these drones were unarmed and that there wasn’t a major threat to life or infrastructure?
Now that the Ruskies know they can launch a drone fleet deep into EU territory unchallenged, what’s to prevent the next round from delivering warheads?
I know you don’t want burning debris falling on populated areas, but were no fighters scrambled? I mean, Jesus - you can’t fly hobby balloons in rural spans of North America without them getting blasted, yet an entire fleet of drones can descend on a major EU city with little more than a shrug?
no problem on the digits.
I agree that the US has to be part of the solution. It just has to be a shared solution and the EU has to probably be the lead. Like him or not, Trump has forced Europe to realize they have to spend to protect their own continent. The EU is very different from Japan from a position of obligation.
The addiction to war must be fed so that the military industrial complex of the West can keep churning out profit$. NATO is itching for an excuse to expand even though when the Berlin Wall fell, the US promised Gorbachov it would not expand NATO beyond its current limits. Russia likely had nothing to do with this.
Better think what and whom you are helping.
Ukraine's problem is that there aren't many men left to provide assistance to. They have drones, but not enough operators. Last year, Poland had seats for Ukrainians to learn to operate Leopard tanks, and only 50% of those seats were occupied.
Nobody joins Ukrainian military voluntarily anymore - they are able to maintain appearance of resistance by having turned the country into a huge concentration camp with banned exit and literally pull poor men off the streets into training grounds and days later throwing them under Russian fire. There was a number recently of 1.7 million Ukrainian men dead and heavily wounded. What are you trying to gain here?
Like it or not, but it's clear by now that Russia is the winner of this round at least. All your help achieves is just delaying inevitable admission of that at the expense of 1500 or so lives daily. Nothing else.
Fair points but this wasn't an attack, it was a disruption, something that Russia does do well, for sure, and often. But why Denmark ? Russia wasn't to destabilize NATO countries, okay, fair, but there's so many simpler targets. If you draw a vend diagram of countries that both Russia and US want to destabilize, Denmark will be right smack in the middle. I still lean to the Russia explanation, but can't discount the US, especially with the current regime.
Police stated that they decided against shooting it down due to potential risk to civilians below, as it was flying around a residential area.
I think the assumption that it's not armed was fairly safe.
You might say the same thing about Russia, an oligarchal dictatorship, a country that is shoveling its poor young men (it's always the poor) into the meat grinder so fast that it has to beg for help from North Korea and Iran. One can tell a lot about a country by who its friends are.
First, any verbal promise given that wasn't translated into an actual agreement/treaty can't be expected to live out the administration that gave it.
Second, NATO didn't "expand". Countries previously subjugated by Russia, and more recently Russia's other neighbors, sought to join NATO because Russia is a horrible neighbor. Russia, through her own actions, drove Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, the Baltic countries, and more recently Sweden and Finland, to join NATO for their own protection. The MIC didn't do a damn thing, Russia Russia's actions in Transnistria, Georgia, Chechnya, Ukraine speaks volumes about how Russia treats its neighbors.
CPH is VERY close to the city center and the outer neighborhoods/suburbs butt right up against it; the Øresundsbron also runs right out of the airport, essentially, across to Malmö. This is a very densely populated area and in important transportation hub for all of Scandinavia - likely why it was chosen as the target in the first place...
Please tell me you were joking. I mean, I know TDS is a thing, but really?
Yet another failure of education. Fairly straight shot from Kaliningrad. Look it up and learn geography.
And destabilize? Did you see what happened in the prior administration? Started with Afghanistan, proceeded to the approval of a minor incursion into Ukraine, and the Hamas slaughter. Those were the days, huh?
It would make sense it could be a Russian or even US drone. With the US vying for Greenland creating conflict not just in Greenland but Denmark. I could imagine these authoritarian motives to subvert European governments, seeing how the top Trump admin interacted with UN, Denmark, Germany, and other EU nations. The US does have a history of subversion. And there is a lot of characteristic expressing of grasps for power. Wasnt the Trump admin found to be trying to propagandize people living in Greenland? I dont remember the details.
There were no "attack" - the drones flew in and out again. None was regrettably downed - but using the word "attack" implies use of weaponry - and none was used. Pls. fix the misleading headline!!!
The same thing doesn't apply to Russia. Russia doesn't have closed borders. In Russia, they don't have press-gangs pulling poor men off the streets. As for relations with North Korea and Iran - well, each of these nations has normal diplomatic relations pretty much anywhere outside of the West, with most other nations in the world.
And after all, North Korea did send troops to help Russians kick out Ukrainians from Kursk, while all we do to Ukrainians is encouraging them to fight this long-lost war literally until the last Ukrainian.
I believe the drone intrusion at Copenhagen Airport is a deliberate Russian attempt to show Europe that they are vulnerable.