A Russian drone was seen near the French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle(Image: TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Ima)
A Russian drone was neutralised as it was caught hovering near a French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier involved in NATO exercises.
The Swedish military said the unauthorised drone was sighted off southern Sweden earlier this week with the French aircraft carrier docked in the port of Malmo and is in the region as part of a NATO operation.
The drone was detected taking off from a Russian signals intelligence ship in the Oresund strait, which separates Sweden from Denmark, said the Swedish military – and that systems on board the Swedish ship took countermeasures to jam the drone.
Ulf Kristersson with Jean-Noël Barrot on board the Charles de Gaulle today(Image: TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Ima)
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The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is in the southern Swedish city of Malmo this week as part of regular NATO exercise activities.
A French military spokesman Guillaume Vernet said that the drone was detected on Wednesday and handled by Swedish forces integrated into a security system around the carrier. He said that the drone was more than six miles from the Charles de Gaulle.
“This system showed it is robust, and this event had no impact on the activity of the aircraft carrier battle group,” Mr Vernet said. Sweden’s defence minister had said on Thursday evening that the drone appeared to be Russian.
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And Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said during a visit to the French ship earlier today that “it is serious and maybe not surprising”, as Russia dislikes the NATO exercises.
But French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who also visited the Charles de Gaulle, emphasised that the security of the aircraft carrier was not threatened. “If indeed… there is a potential Russian origin for this incident, it would be a ridiculous provocation,” he said. He said that he had no information of his own on the source of the drone.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he did not know about the incident. Asked by reporters about Swedish officials linking the drone to the Russian ship, Mr Peskov said that “it’s quite absurd” to claim that the drone was Russian just because a Russian ship was nearby.
Western officials say Russia is masterminding a campaign of sabotage and disruption across Europe with well over 100 incidents reportedly documented. Not all of them are public and it can sometimes take officials months to establish a link to Moscow.
While officials say the campaign – waged since Russia launched an all-out war against Ukraine in 2022 – aims to deprive Kyiv of support, they believe Moscow is also trying to identify Europe’s weak spots and divert law enforcement resources.