Sweden’s armed forces have said they have confirmed that a drone neutralized near the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle during its port visit to Malmö was launched from a Russian signals intelligence ship operating in the Öresund Strait.
According to the Swedish military, Swedish naval personnel observed the drone take off from the Russian vessel Zhigulevsk while the ship was transiting Swedish territorial waters. A Swedish Navy unit then used countermeasures to disrupt the unmanned aircraft, after which the drone disappeared from the area.
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said the flight breached Sweden’s airspace and access regulations, describing the act as serious and irresponsible. Swedish authorities said the drone flight was unauthorized, and Swedish forces escorted the Zhigulevsk out of Swedish waters following the incident.
The drone was detected and countered by Swedish naval forces monitoring the ship’s transit. Nordic militaries are paying growing attention to drone activity and suspected intelligence collection around major allied assets and critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
French officials say carrier operations were not affected
French officials said the incident did not pose a threat to the carrier and did not affect ongoing activity. The drone reportedly came within about 10 kilometers of Charles de Gaulle.
While visiting the ship in Malmö, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters that Paris did not, at that time, have independent evidence tying Russia to the drone, but warned that a confirmed Russian link would amount to a “ridiculous provocation.”
