Drones Over Denmark Are ‘Hybrid Attack’ Says Defence Minister

"The goal of this kind of hybrid attack is to create fear," Hummelgaard said. "It is to create discord and it is to make us afraid."

The origin or purpose of the drone flights is not yet clear. But Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told a Thursday press conference, "There can be no doubt that everything points to this being the work of a professional actor when we are talking about such a systematic operation in so many locations at virtually the same time."

"We have no evidence to make the direct link to Russia," Poulsen added.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday that she considered the initial drone intrusions over Copenhagen and elsewhere to be "a serious attack against critical infrastructure in Denmark."

Asked if Russia -- drones from which have repeatedly violated NATO airspace in recent months -- should be considered responsible, Frederiksen said, "I cannot reject in any way that it could be Russia."

The Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed the assertion. "A country that takes a serious position should probably not make such baseless accusations time and time again," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

And on Thursday, the Russian embassy in Denmark suggested the drone sightings "are a staged provocation."

"Undoubtedly, they will be used as a pretext for further escalating tension in the interests of forces seeking by all means to prolong the Ukrainian conflict and extend it to other countries," the embassy wrote on Telegram. "The Russian side firmly rejects the absurd speculations of involvement in the incidents."

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Thursday that he spoke with Frederiksen "about the drone situation, which we take very seriously."

"NATO allies and Denmark are working together on how we can ensure the safety and security of our critical infrastructure," Rutte wrote in a post to X.