A drone flyover above Copenhagen Airport prompts concerns that Russia was behind it

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Several unidentified drones shut down airspace over Copenhagen Airport on Monday night, prompting concerns that Russia could be behind the flyover above Scandinavia’s largest airport.

There was no indication that the operators of two to three drones intended to cause harm to anyone, police said, and the drones disappeared after several hours. The incident caused a major disruption to air traffic in and out of the airport.

While it wasn’t immediately clear who was behind the flyover, Denmark’s prime minister and NATO’s secretary-general said that Russian involvement couldn’t be ruled out. And now Denmark — already on edge because of its proximity to Russia — will join a group of front-line countries Friday to discuss the European Union’s plans for a “drone wall.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called it "the most serious attack on Danish critical infrastructure to date.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that it was “too early to say” whether Russia was involved, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected suggestions that Moscow could be involved.

“Every time we hear unfounded accusations,” he said in a call Tuesday with reporters, adding that “a party that takes a serious and responsible position mustn’t make such unfounded accusations again and again.”

Officials chose not to shoot down the drones because the risk was too great because of the airport being full of passengers, the planes on the runways and nearby fuel depots, Jes Jespersen, senior police inspector of the Copenhagen Police, said during a news conference.

Jespersen called the operators “a capable actor” and said they seemed intent on showing off their skills and possibly practicing their techniques. The drones' lights reportedly turned on and off and appeared to engage in different flight patterns.

“It all indicates that you are not out to attack anyone, but you are out to show off and maybe to practice,” he said of the operators.

The two to three drones appeared to have flown many kilometers (miles) to reach the airport. Investigators are looking at how the drones reached the airport — whether it was by land or possibly by boat.

Flights at the airport resumed early Tuesday, though delays and cancellations continued throughout the day.

A drone incident the same evening at the airport in Oslo, Norway, forced all traffic to move to one runway, according to Norwegian broadcaster NRK. Traffic later returned to normal and it’s unclear who was responsible.

Jespersen said nothing immediately linked the Oslo and Copenhagen incidents, but officials would look into any potential ties.

In 2023, London’s Gatwick Airport closed its runway for almost an hour after a drone was reported nearby. In December 2018, more than 140,000 travelers were stranded or delayed during the Christmas season after dozens of drone sightings shut down Gatwick for parts of three consecutive days.

Security concerns in northern Europe are heightened following growing Russian aggression. On Tuesday, NATO warned Russia that it would use all means to defend against any further breaches of its airspace after the downing earlier this month of Russian drones over Poland and Estonia’s report of an intrusion of Russian fighter jets last week.

“And here we see a clear pattern: Russia is testing the European borders, also probing our resolve and undermining our security throughout,” Anitta Hipper, European Commission spokesperson, said Tuesday.

The Sept. 10 incident in Poland was the first direct encounter between NATO and Moscow since Russia launched a full-scale war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. It jolted leaders across Europe, raising questions about how prepared the alliance is against Russia.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen holds a doorstep and comments on drone activity Monday evening at Copenhagen Airport, in Copenhagen, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (Emil Nicolai Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Danish police and Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) are present at DSB on Kystvejen by Copenhagen Airport, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, after drones flew over Copenhagen Airport on Monday evening and the airspace was closed for four hours. (Steven Knap/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Naviair Director Morten Fruensgaard, left, police inspector Jens Jespersen, centre, and operations manager at Naviair Kristoffer Plenge-Brandt hold a joint press conference at police headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday Sept. 23, 2025, after drones were seen on Monday evening near Copenhagen Airport and the airspace over Copenhagen was closed for four hours into Tuesday. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Naviair Director Morten Fruensgaard, left, police inspector Jens Jespersen, centre, and operations manager at Naviair Kristoffer Plenge-Brandt hold a joint press conference at police headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, Tuesday Sept. 23, 2025, after drones were seen on Monday evening near Copenhagen Airport and the airspace over Copenhagen was closed for four hours into Tuesday. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Danish police patrol at Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, Monday Sept. 22, 2025. (Steven Knap/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

HAVANA (AP) — Cuban soldiers wearing white gloves marched out of a plane on Thursday carrying urns with the remains of the 32 Cuban officers killed during a stunning U.S. attack on Venezuela as trumpets and drums played solemnly at Havana's airport.

Nearby, thousands of Cubans lined one of Havana’s most iconic streets to await the bodies of colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains as the island remained under threat by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The soldiers' shoes clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, next to Revolution Square, with the urns and placed them on a long table next to the pictures of those killed so people could pay their respects.

Thursday’s mass funeral was only one of a handful that the Cuban government has organized in almost half a century.

Hours earlier, state television showed images of more than a dozen wounded people described as “combatants” accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez arriving Wednesday night from Venezuela. Some were in wheelchairs.

Those injured and the remains of those killed arrived as tensions grow between Cuba and the U.S., with Trump recently demanding that the Caribbean country make a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

Trump also has said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela's money and oil. Experts warn that the abrupt end of oil shipments could be catastrophic for Cuba, which is already struggling with serious blackouts and a crumbling power grid.

Officials unfurled a massive flag at Havana's airport as President Miguel Díaz-Canel, clad in military garb as commander of Cuba's Armed Forces, stood silent next to former President Raúl Castro, with what appeared to be the relatives of those killed looking on nearby.

Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casa said Venezuela was not a distant land for those killed, but a “natural extension of their homeland.”

“The enemy speaks to an audience of high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy,” Álvarez said in apparent reference to the U.S. “We, on the other hand, speak of faces, of families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother.”

Álvarez called those slain “heroes,” saying that they were an example of honor and “a lesson for those who waver.”

“We reaffirm that if this painful chapter of history has demonstrated anything, it is that imperialism may possess more sophisticated weapons; it may have immense material wealth; it may buy the minds of the wavering; but there is one thing it will never be able to buy: the dignity of the Cuban people,” he said.

Thousands of Cubans lined a street where motorcycles and military vehicles thundered by with the remains of those killed.

“They are people willing to defend their principles and values, and we must pay tribute to them,” said Carmen Gómez, a 58-year-old industrial designer, adding that she hopes no one invades given the ongoing threats.

When asked why she showed up despite the difficulties Cubans face, Gómez replied, “It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”

Cuba recently released the names and ranks of 32 military personnel — ranging in age from 26 to 60 — who were part of the security detail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the raid on his residence on January 3. They included members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, the island’s two security agencies.

Cuban and Venezuelan authorities have said that the uniformed personnel were part of protection agreements between the two countries.

A demonstration was planned for Friday across from the U.S. Embassy in an open-air forum known as the Anti-Imperialist Tribune. Officials have said they expect the demonstration to be massive.

“People are upset and hurt. There’s a lot of talk on social media; but many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States, analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press.

In October 1976, then-President Fidel Castro led a massive demonstration to bid farewell to the 73 people killed in the bombing of a Cubana de Aviación civilian flight financed by anti-revolutionary leaders in the U.S. Most of the victims were Cuban athletes.

In December 1989, officials organized “Operation Tribute” to honor the more than 2,000 Cuban combatants who died in Angola during Cuba’s participation in the war that defeated the South African army and ended the apartheid system. In October 1997, memorial services were held following the arrival of the remains of guerrilla commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara and six of his comrades, who died in 1967.

The latest mass burial is critical to honor those slain, said José Luis Piñeiro, a 60-year-old doctor who lived four years in Venezuela.

“I don’t think Trump is crazy enough to come and enter a country like this, ours, and if he does, he’s going to have to take an aspirin or some painkiller to avoid the headache he’s going to get,” Piñeiro said. “These were 32 heroes who fought him. Can you imagine an entire nation? He’s going to lose.”

A day before the remains of those killed arrived in Cuba, the U.S. announced $3 million in additional aid to help the island recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa.

The first flight took off on Wednesday, and a second flight was scheduled for Friday. A commercial vessel also will deliver food and other supplies.

Jeremy Lewin, the State Department official in charge of foreign assistance, said the U.S. was working with Cuba’s Catholic Church to distribute aid.

“There’s nothing political about cans of tuna and rice and beans and pasta,” he said Thursday, warning that the Cuban government should not intervene or divert supplies. “We will be watching, and we will hold them accountable.”

Lewin said he saw no contradiction between cutting off Venezuelan oil and offering aid, saying that “the Cuban regime was taking illegitimate profits from the narco-terrorists.”

He said the U.S. hopes that delivering aid via the Catholic Church will be part of a new and broader push to deliver assistance directly to the Cuban people.

“Ultimately, the regime has to make a choice," Lewin said. “Step down or better provide towards people.”

Lewin added that “if there was no regime,” the U.S. would provide “billions and billions of dollars” in assistance, as well as investment and development: “That’s what lies on the other side of the regime for the Cuban people.”

The announcement riled Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.

“The U.S. government is exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes,” he said in a statement. “As a matter of principle, Cuba does not oppose assistance from governments or organizations, provided it benefits the people and the needs of those affected are not used for political gain under the guise of humanitarian aid.”

Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Military members pay their last respects to Cuban officers who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces where the urns containing the remains are displayed during a ceremony in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Soldiers carry urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, at the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Adalberto Roque /Pool Photo via AP)

A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A motorcade transports urns containing the remains of Cuban officers, who were killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, through Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

People line the streets of Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, to watch the motorcade carrying urns containing the remains of Cuban officers killed during the U.S. operation in Venezuela that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)