Unidentified drones appearing in the skies over Copenhagen and Oslo airports on the evening of September 22 caused multi-hour disruptions to air traffic.
Drones Appeared and Vanished
Danish police reported that two to three drones suddenly appeared from different directions over Copenhagen Airport. These drones were likely operated by an experienced individual demonstrating their capabilities before vanishing just as abruptly. BBC noted that during a night press conference on September 23, Danish police could not identify the type or exact number of drones, nor where they went.
Police assured the public that there was no indication the drone operator intended to cause harm. However, security services remain on high alert for any objects appearing over airports.
Police are currently investigating the incident to determine who owned and operated the drones. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen did not rule out Russia’s potential involvement in the drone incident at Copenhagen Airport, citing similar incidents in other countries. “This must be seen in the context of everything happening in Europe, but for now, we cannot draw any conclusions,” she stated.
Speaking to TV2, Frederiksen described the incident as a “serious attack on Denmark’s critical infrastructure.”
Around the same time, air traffic over Oslo’s Gardermoen Airport in Norway was also closed for several hours due to drone sightings. The newspaper VG reported this, citing Monica Fasting, communications manager for Oslo Airport. On the morning of September 23, Gisle Sven, operations manager for the Eastern Police District, told VG: “We have not been able to 100% confirm that there was a drone in the air.” He added that police had searched the area throughout the night but could not confirm whether a drone had been in the airport’s restricted zone.
NEWSROOM IN notes that on September 10, 2025, 21 Russian drone intruded into Polish airspace. Most of these were decoy drones, launched to overload enemy air defense systems, but this does not change the fact of the intrusion into Poland.
The Russian Ministry of Defense neither explicitly confirmed nor denied the intrusion. “No targets for engagement were planned on Polish territory. The maximum flight range of the Russian UAVs allegedly used in the strike that crossed the Polish border does not exceed 700 km. Nevertheless, we are ready to hold consultations with the Polish Ministry of Defense on this matter,” the ministry stated.
Trump initially suggested that the drone intrusion into Poland was a mistake. In response, Poland’s chief diplomat, Radosław Sikorski, wrote briefly and clearly: “No, it was not a mistake.”
Following this incident, NATO launched Operation “Eastern Guardian” to strengthen the defense of its eastern borders.
On September 14, the Romanian Air Force intercepted a Russian drone that had entered its airspace in the Danube River area.
As Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu stated, her country’s people had never before been exposed to such danger. She described Russia’s actions as “unacceptable and reckless.” The minister announced that Romania had addressed the UN General Assembly regarding this violation and urged the international community to strictly enforce sanctions imposed on Russia.
On September 19, Estonia reported an airspace violation when three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets intruded into Estonian airspace near Vaindloo Island. This was an unprecedentedly brazen violation, lasting approximately 12 minutes.
Tallinn activated NATO’s Article 4 and requested an emergency meeting of the Security Council, which was scheduled for September 22, 2025.
NATO ambassadors were scheduled to meet on September 23 to discuss the Estonian airspace violation.
Also on September 19, a cyberattack targeted IT provider Collins Aerospace, which offers passenger check-in and handling services at airports in Berlin, Brussels, Dublin, and London Heathrow. This attack caused chaos and flight delays at some of Europe’s busiest and most popular airports.
On September 20, the Polish Border Guard reported that Russian military aircraft flew at a low altitude over the Petrobaltic drilling platform in the Baltic Sea. They emphasized that this violated Poland’s exclusive economic zone but not the country’s state border.
On September 21, two German Air Force Eurofighter jets were scrambled due to the appearance of a Russian military aircraft, an Il-20M reconnaissance plane, in the airspace over the Baltic Sea.
Germany’s Permanent Representation to NATO stated that the aircraft was in international airspace, flying without a flight plan and without making radio contact. The German Air Force clarified that no country’s airspace had been violated.
