Russia Suspected in Unauthorized Drone Flight Near French Navy Flagship
A suspicious drone attempted to approach the French navy's flagship during a port call in Malmo, Sweden, the Swedish defense minister has confirmed.
The Marine Nationale's sole aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, recently arrived in Sweden for a multilateral exercise. On Wednesday, security personnel aboard a Swedish Navy patrol vessel detected a drone approaching the carrier in the Oresund, outside the port. The Swedish crew took action and engaged antidrone countermeasures; shortly after, they lost contact with the airborne device.
The drone took off from a Russian ship, Sweden's defense forces asserted. After the incident, the suspect vessel departed and continued onwards into the Baltic.
"By all accounts, there is a strong connection between the Russian military ship and this drone," Swedish defense minister Pal Jonson told SVT. Asked directly which nation the drone belonged to, he said, "probably Russia."
The incident appears to be a violation of Swedish airspace regulations, and an inquiry is under way to determine if an offense occurred. It is possible that the run-in will result in a diplomatic protest.
Open source shipwatchers have identified several potential suspect vessels. The list includes the notorious gun-running ship Sparta IV, sanctioned for years for her involvement in the Syrian Civil War. She was passing through the Oresund within roughly the same timeframe as the incident, AIS data shows. Sparta IV was also recently implicated in suspicious movements off the coast of Italy, in the vicinity of subsea cable networks.
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Other potential suspects passing through the area include the Lider, Anatoly Kolodkin, Barents, Alara and Vostochny Prospect - all Russian-flagged, some with known Russian government or military ties, some sanctioned for their role in the Russian gray-market oil trade.
Russia-linked vessels have been implicated in illegal drone activity before. The shadow fleet tanker Boracay was detained by French forces last year on suspicion of involvement in a series of drone airspace violations over Denmark, including disruptive overflights at the Copenhagen airport and nearby military installations. The vessel may have acted as a launch pad for short-range drone operations, investigators believe; two Russian security personnel were discovered aboard when the ship was boarded and inspected off France.