A Russian warship reportedly fired warning shots at a German helicopter conducting patrols over the Baltic Sea.
The crew of the Russian ship fired signal munitions, the German Press Agency in Brussels learned.
According to the German newspaper imageWarning shots were fired at the NATO reconnaissance aircraft, but this has not yet been confirmed.
Signal ammunition is used for warning shots rather than attacks, but this type of incident is a sign of how close NATO and Russia are to facing each other directly.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock mentioned the incident at a NATO meeting but gave no further details.
However, a spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense has so far been unable to confirm reports of the firing of signal munitions.
This follows a dramatic escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine over the past two weeks, in which both the UK and the US approved kyiv firing Western-made missiles across the border.
Former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev even declared late last month that NATO and the United States are in “total war” with Russia.
A Russian warship fired warning shots at a German helicopter carrying out patrols over the Baltic Sea (file photo)
NATO is currently carrying out increased surveillance in the Baltic Sea to prevent hybrid attacks on oil pipelines and data cables by Russia and its supporters (pictured, Vladimir Putin).
NATO is currently carrying out increased surveillance in the Baltic Sea to prevent hybrid attacks on oil pipelines and data cables by Russia and its supporters.
The Baltic Sea borders eight NATO countries and Russia.
There have been at least three incidents of possible sabotage of the roughly 40 critical telecommunications cables and gas pipelines that run along its relatively shallow seabed since 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
“NATO is stepping up patrols… allies are investing in innovative technologies that can help better protect these assets,” Commander Arlo Abrahamson, spokesman for NATO Allied Maritime Command, said previously.
However, the ease with which a ship’s anchor can cut a cable, coupled with the often treacherous sea conditions, makes actual prevention of such attacks almost impossible.
Today’s warning shots come today as former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev declared that the West crossed “all red lines” and is now “at war with Russia.”
Medvedev, a close Putin ally who now serves as vice chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said every Ukrainian attack on Russian territory with Western weapons would be met with a response.
“It will not go unnoticed… It will change the rules of engagement; it is proof that NATO, Washington and other participants in the alliance are not just engaging in a hybrid war, but a war in every sense of the word against our country.
“The negotiations are a long way off, events like this could set those negotiations back even further,” he told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya.
‘Any attack against Russia is unequivocally unacceptable. What happened was a crossing of all red lines.”
The crew of the Russian ship fired signal ammunition at the helicopter that was on a reconnaissance mission, according to the German newspaper Bild (file photo)
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks during a press conference after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
It comes as the former MI6 chief admitted Britain must “face the fact” that the Kremlin feels it is fighting a war with the West, and not just Ukraine.
Sir Richard Dearlove, who headed Britain’s secret intelligence service between 1999 and 2004, told Sky News this week: ‘(Polish Prime Minister) Donald Tusk has referred to it as a pre-war situation. I think you are wrong. I think it’s a real war.’
He went on to justify his statement by referring to examples of Russian hybrid warfare in countries across Europe that involved sabotage plots, cyber attacks, and “very aggressive moves.”
Meanwhile, in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, kyiv’s military is seeing sky-high desertion rates as Russian forces continue to advance westward.
Prosecutors opened 60,000 cases in the first 10 months of this year against soldiers who had deserted their posts, nearly double the cases opened in all of 2022 and 2023 combined, according to Financial times reported.
In an effort to stem the flow, Ukraine has stepped up its recruiting efforts and set the bold goal of recruiting another 160,000 men to support war-weary frontline units in the next three months.
The shocking desertion rates were revealed as Vladimir Putin’s forces advance inexorably towards Ukraine, aiming to to seize as much territory as possible before donald trumpThe imminent return to White House with both sides Waiting for Washington to push for ceasefire talks early next year.
Although its ranks are suffering heavy casualties, the Russian army is advancing at a faster pace than at any time after the first days of the 2022 invasion, occupying an area half the size of London in November.
The grim circumstances led Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s wartime foreign minister until he resigned in September, to declare that kyiv will “lose the war” unless there is a major reversal of fortunes.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now a senior Kremlin security official, pictured with Vladimir Putin.
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is tested as part of Russia’s nuclear exercises from a launch site in Plesetsk, northwest Russia.
Residents stand next to their house damaged by a Russian missile attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, on the outskirts of Odessa, Ukraine, on November 28, 2024.
Today’s incident is also the latest in a series of clashes between Russian and NATO forces.
In September, a Russian plane came dangerously close to an American fighter jet sent to intercept them off the coast of Alaska.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) detected and tracked four Russian military aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on September 23.
NORAD sent four F-16 fighters and a reconnaissance aircraft to escort the Russian formation through the area, a spokesperson told Alaska Public Media.
Video of the interaction shows a Russian plane flying past an American plane, tilting rapidly left and right.
“The conduct of a Russian Su-35 was unsafe, unprofessional and endangered everyone – not what you would see in a professional air force,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot.
Meanwhile, in March last year, a Russian fighter jet crashed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea.
Drone camera footage shows the terrifying confrontation as a Su-27 aircraft approaches from behind, cuts its propeller and dumps fuel on it in international airspace.
The clip was released following a report that the “highest levels” of the Kremlin approved the aggressive behavior of the planes during the intercept.
This incident marked the first direct confrontation between Russia and the United States since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.