Ukraine is deploying military experts to Denmark to share its extensive experience in combating Russian drones, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Tuesday.
The move comes as European defence ministers recently agreed to construct a “drone wall” along their borders with Russia and Ukraine.
Mr Zelenskyy confirmed, “Our military has begun deploying a mission in Denmark to disseminate Ukrainian experience in drone defense.”
Europe’s current drone defence capabilities are significantly behind those of Ukraine and Russia, where advanced drone warfare has become a defining feature of the three-year conflict.
Highlighting the critical need for this expertise, Mr Zelenskyy added in a post on Telegram: “Ukrainian (drone) experience is the most relevant in Europe right now, and it is our experience, our specialists, and our technologies that could become a key element of the future European ‘drone wall’ — a large-scale project that will guarantee safety in the sky.”
The initiative is particularly pertinent for Denmark, which has recently reported drone sightings near its military installations and airports.
Danish intelligence officials, though careful not to directly accuse a specific country, said they regarded the risk of Russian espionage and sabotage in Denmark as high.
Poland has also turned to Ukraine for expertise after Russian drones entered Polish airspace.
“The results of the (Ukrainian) mission in Denmark will shape the framework for cooperation with other European countries as well,” Zelenskyy said.
The NATO military alliance is troubled, too, by European airspace violations by Russian warplanes that are further straining relations with Moscow and fueling fears that the fighting could spill beyond Ukraine’s borders.
At the same time, there is uncertainty about peace negotiations that were set in motion by the United States months ago but appear to be making no headway.
Ahead of two summits in the Danish capital Copenhagen this week, NATO is stepping up aerial surveillance in the Baltic Sea, while France, Germany and Sweden are bolstering Denmark’s air defenses.
A family of four killed in a Russian strike
A Russian drone strike killed an entire family of four in a village in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region overnight, authorities said. The family was made up of a young married couple and their two sons, aged 4 and 6, regional administration head Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Telegram.
“This is a terrible and irreparable loss for the entire community and the region,” Hryhorov said. “The death of the family … is a tragedy we will never forget or forgive.”
Reacting to European plans to build a “drone wall” to protect itself from Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that “history shows that building walls is always bad.”
“We are continuing to see such militarist approach instead of thinking how to engage in a dialogue and jointly search for security guarantees,” he told reporters.
