The Swedish Armed Forces has confirmed that a Russian drone conducted an unauthorised flight over Swedish territory during the recent visit of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to Malmö.
According to the military, the incident occurred as the Russian signals intelligence vessel Zhigulevsk transited the Öresund through Swedish territorial waters in accordance with international law. The Swedish naval vessel HMS Rapp was operating in the area to monitor and protect the French carrier group when onboard systems detected nearby drone activity.
The Swedish ship activated countermeasures to disrupt the unmanned aircraft. Subsequent analysis of technical data confirmed that the drone had carried out an unauthorised flight, constituting a violation of Sweden’s Access Regulation.
“Our investigation shows that the Swedish Armed Forces acted quickly and correctly to maintain security in our vicinity,” said Ewa Skoog Haslum, Head of the Swedish Armed Forces’ Operations Command. She added that Swedish forces had been monitoring the Russian vessel throughout its transit and responded immediately once the drone was detected.
The Armed Forces also stated that, beyond the drone incident, the Russian vessel failed to fully comply with applicable regulations governing passage through Swedish territorial waters.
Swedish naval units escorted the Russian ship out of territorial waters. It has since continued into the Baltic Sea.