Russian TV Airs Video of the Danish Helicopter Flare Incident, and Copenhagen Says Part of It Is Not from That Day

Russia has gone public with its version of the flare incident in the Baltic. On 14 September the Russian warship Soobrazitelny, called a frigate in Danish reports, fired two signal flares at a Danish Fennec helicopter in international waters off Gedser. One flare passed 10 to 15 metres from the helicopter, according to the Danish Defence Command. This week the state channel Rossiya 1 aired a report that it says shows how close the helicopter came. It says the helicopter "penetrated the ship's security zone" and that the commander, introduced only as Sergei, gave the order to fire the flares.

Two stories, two distances

The two sides still disagree on the distance. Copenhagen says taking pictures of warships that pass near Danish waters is standard procedure, and that the helicopter was never closer than about 150 metres. Russia's foreign ministry says it flew less than 50 metres above the ship, and ambassador Vladimir Barbin has called it provocative. Both countries summoned the other's ambassador. DR notes that no international rule sets a minimum distance, though the US has earlier said at least 100 metres.

The footage does not show the flares being fired. Asked by DR Verificerer whether the images are authentic, the Defence Command said:

“vi konstaterer, at en del af billedmaterialet ikke stammer fra den pågældende episode”

“we note that part of the footage does not come from the episode in question”

— Danish Defence Command, to DR Verificerer

DR's own review found that some of the clips may come from the Gedser area where the incident took place. Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus told DR:

“Det bekræfter mig i, at det, der er i gang her, er en russisk misinformationskampagne, som handler om at prøve at se, om ikke man kan så mistillid til de danske myndigheder.”

“It confirms to me that what is going on here is a Russian disinformation campaign, which is about trying to see whether it can sow distrust in the Danish authorities.”

— Jeppe Bruus (S), Danish Defence Minister, to DR

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen has said the Russians cannot produce any evidence supporting their story.

"A propaganda story"

DR's experts see a script. University of Copenhagen researcher Yevgeniy Golovchenko, who studies hybrid threats, said:

“Rusland har at gøre med et aggressivt Nato i form af Danmark. De fortæller deres propagandafortælling: De er bare ude at forsvare sig selv.”

“Russia is dealing with an aggressive NATO in the form of Denmark. They are telling their propaganda story: they are only out to defend themselves.”

— Yevgeniy Golovchenko, assistant professor of political science, University of Copenhagen, to DR Verificerer

That is the line from Copenhagen. @oresundsbaron, whose post is the source of this Signal, asks the question the minister's wording leaves open: if part of the material is not from the day, which part is? If the part that is from the day shows the helicopter very close, he argues, Moscow will say it was entitled to react. He hopes parliament and the media will demand answers. The Defence Command has so far pointed to its earlier published account of the incident.