RUSSIANS are behind the mysterious drones that forced Denmark and Norway’s main airports to shut down, Volodymyr Zelensky claimed.
Copenhagen Airport, the busiest in the Nordic region, was closed for four hours last night while Oslo Airport shut down operations for three hours after large drones were spotted flying close by.
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While authorities are still investigating the origins of the dronesthey said they were likely flown by a “capable operator” who wanted to “show off”.
Denmark’s intelligence agency said the country faces “high threat of sabotage” after the drone sightings.
Jes Jespersen, senior police inspector of the Copenhagen Police, said: “It all indicates that you are not out to attack anyone, but you are out to show off and maybe to practice.”
President Zelensky appeared to claim that Moscow was behind it, referencing “Russia‘s violation” of Nato airspace in Copenhagen on 22 September.
Though he did not provide any proof for his claims.
Oslo Airport shut its airspace from midnight local time, a spokesperson said, adding that all flights were diverted to the nearest airport.
Danish police said earlier that two or three large drones had been seen flying near Copenhagen’s airport, closing it to all traffic.
Officials chose not to shoot down the drones because the risk was too great due to the airport being full of passengers, the planes on the runways and nearby fuel depots, authorities said.
They have not ruled out the possibility of the drones being part of a Russian hybrid attack.
Flemming Drejer, chief of Denmark’s intelligence service PET, said: “We are facing a high threat of sabotage in Denmark. Someone may not necessarily want to attack us, but rather stress us out and see how we react.”
Security concerns in Europe are heightened following an increase in Russian sabotage activities and multiple drone and fighter jet incursions into Nato airspace in recent weeks.
Experts warned that the disruption is part of a much bigger problem hitting Europe’s airports.
Across the continent, terminals have been battling crippling cyber attacks that forced check-in systems offline and left passengers stranded.
Heathrow, Brussels and Berlin were all thrown into turmoil, with airlines forced to fall back on paper-based workarounds to get travellers boarded.
The EU’s cybersecurity agency confirmed malicious software was used to lock airport systems, saying: “The type of ransomware has been identified. Law enforcement is involved to investigate.”
Ransomware is a weapon of choice for criminals — infecting key systems before demanding bitcoin payments to undo the damage.
But intelligence experts believe this latest wave of chaos bears all the hallmarks of a state-backed hit job.
Security and politics expert Anthony Glees told The Sun: “Without doubt, the Russians are behind these attacks on airports in London, Berlin and Brussels.
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“No one can doubt that Putin’s strategic planners are the beneficiaries here because they have been able to demonstrate they can attack our cyberspace with impunity and at will.”
Russians risking WW3
It all comes after three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonia’s airspace “without clearance” – triggering an emergency Nato meeting.
The fighter jets reportedly flew over Vaindloo Island and stayed there for nearly 12 minutes.
Shortly afterwards, Polish authorities reported a “low flyover” of Russian military planes near an oil and gas platform.
Donald Trump responded to the reckless violation and said the incursion could cause “big trouble”.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said he was “going to have a look” at the reports, adding: “I don’t love it”.
MiG-31s are capable of carrying terrifying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
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Incursions like this have happened before, but they rarely last this long.
While in Estonian airspace, the jets circled in the sky as though waiting for a response.
All three planes’ transponders were turned off at the time, according to reports.
Nato allies scrambled Italian F-35s to repel the Russian jets.
Two weeks ago, Polish authorities said they detected 19 violations of their airspace.
It prompted a dramatic million-dollar response as fighter jets were scrambled and Patriot air defence systems placed on alert.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the incident brought Poland closer to military conflict “than at any time since the Second World War”.
Up to four drones were shot down with the help of Nato allies.
It marked the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that Nato has directly engaged with Vlad’s forces.
And it was followed by a Russian drone overflying Romania for 50 minutes on Saturday.
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