Mysterious drones entered the airspace of the capitals in Denmark and Norway late Monday, forcing their respective airports to close for several hours.
Copenhagen’s airport shut down all departures and arrivals for four hours after two to three drones were spotted, affecting about 20,000 passengers. Also, Oslo’s airport halted operations for three hours after at least one drone was spotted.
Scandinavian authorities are investigating the drone sightings to determine who was responsible. It remains unclear if the two incidents were connected.
“What we saw last night is the most serious act so far against Danish critical infrastructure,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. “It tells us something about the times we are living in, and what we as a society must be prepared to deal with.”
Ukraine claimed Russia launched the drone incursions, while the Kremlin denied the allegations. This comes after Russia invaded Estonian and Polish airspace in the past two weeks.
On Friday, Russian warplanes flew into Estonia for 12 minutes and left after they were intercepted by NATO fighter jets. The incident prompted Estonia to call for formal consultations with other NATO members and an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.
Estonia’s latter request came on Monday as the global U.N. General Assembly meeting gets underway this week, with world leaders convening for the body’s 80th session.
In a separate incident, NATO forces shot down several of the 19 Russian drones that flew into Poland overnight between Sept. 9 and 10. The incursions caused major Polish airports to close.
ESTONIA CALLS FOR EMERGENCY UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING AFTER RUSSIAN INCURSIONS
Other European airports were disrupted on Friday after cyberattacks targeted their check-in and boarding systems, causing flight delays and cancellations over the weekend. The impacted airports were located in London, Berlin, Brussels, and Dublin.
Regarding the airports in Copenhagen and Oslo, flight delays are expected to continue into Tuesday.