Today’s big topic: Russian frigate fires flares near Danish military helicopter off Gedser
It was a Fennec helicopter (pictured) that was fired upon with flares from a Russian frigate on Monday evening. File photo.
What’s happening?
A Danish military helicopter came under fire from distress flares fired by a Russian frigate on Monday evening in international waters. The frigate fired two distress flares toward the Danish helicopter, and one passed close by the aircraft while it was carrying out routine photography of the frigate.
It is not yet known why the crew of the Russian frigate chose to fire distress flares in the direction of the helicopter. But the Danish defense minister, Jeppe Bruus, says that he views the incident with great seriousness and that Russia’s ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, will be summoned to a meeting at the Foreign Ministry.
It may be that the Russian frigate used only flares. But it sends a signal of a hybrid war that is escalating, increasing the risk that ’something’ spins out of control, Politiken’s international commentator, Michael Jarlner, writes in a news analysis.
Why it matters!
What matters is that this is the first time we’ve heard of anything like this. And it fits a pattern showing that the Putin regime has recently become increasingly willing to take risks in its hybrid threats against Europe.
On September 2, the Danish Security and Intelligence Service told the newspaper Berlingske that Danish authorities have also uncovered specific Russian plans for sabotage operations against companies in Denmark. This spring, Russia’s Defense Ministry published lists of European companies that cooperate with the Ukrainian military. One pointed to an address in northern Jutland where the drone company Skywatch is based. Whether that is connected to the warning in September is unclear.
The escalation of hybrid threats and actions comes at a time when Ukraine is increasingly straining Russia’s economy and daily life with drone attacks deep inside the country. Russia has not yet managed to build up a defense against these attacks and is therefore trying to change the dynamic in other ways: by going after the allies supporting Ukraine – above all Germany, by far the most prominent ally on display, but also a country like Denmark, which stands out for its relatively large military support.
And the big question is how NATO will respond to Russian threats like this going forward.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
In other news
– September could be the most expensive month for electricity in years
September is shaping up to be the most expensive month in years for Danish electricity customers. That is according to the energy company Norlys in a press release, Ritzau reports.
Halfway through the month, the wholesale electricity price has so far averaged 1.11 DKK per kilowatt-hour in western Denmark and 1.12 DKK in eastern Denmark. It is the first time since December 2022 that the average price has been above one DKK per kilowatt-hour, the company writes. As a sign of the trend, the electricity price will rise Monday evening to its highest level in nearly two years, climbing above seven DKK per kilowatt-hour.
– Moose prompts North Zealand farm owner to contact police
A moose was a nuisance Sunday for a farmer in Hundested, who contacted the police. That is stated in an excerpt from the North Zealand Police’s daily log, Ritzau reports. According to the farmer, the moose was running around the property and damaged the fence by the residence. It then headed toward Ullerup Forest.
Moose in North Zealand are a rare sight. In the spring, a video shared with TV 2 Kosmopol showed that a moose had been spotted in North Zealand. The animal had likely swum over from Sweden across the Øresund and come ashore there, Morten Elmeros, a senior adviser at the Department of Ecoscience at Aarhus University, later assessed.
– A record number of schools opted out of participating in the Pisa study
More than half of the Danish schools selected for the latest Pisa study declined to take part. In all, 398 schools were randomly chosen for the survey. Of those, 215 chose not to participate. That is according to Kristeligt Dagblad, Ritzau reports.
When a selected school declined, a backup school could step in. Two backup schools had been designated in advance for each of the selected schools. As a result, a total of 283 schools ended up participating in the study. Still, that is significantly fewer than in 2022, when 347 schools took part.
Talk of town: Children as young as seven are seeking comfort in chatbots, and the trend is spreading
For two and a half years now, staff at the Christmas Seal Homes have been noticing a shift in the digital habits of some of the vulnerable children they work with. The children, aged 7 to 14 and typically struggling with poor well-being or loneliness, had begun having regular conversations with AI chatbots such as Character.ai or Snapchat’s ’MyAI’.
Since then, the trend has spread and is reflected in a new study by Save the Children and TrygFonden on children’s and teenagers’ experiences with violations and boundary-crossing incidents on digital platforms.
The report, based on responses from 2,142 children aged 9 to 17 and 14 qualitative interviews, shows that three out of four have tried chatting with an AI bot like ChatGPT or Snapchat’s ’MyAI’. Among 13- to 17-year-olds, 92 percent have experience holding conversations with AI bots.
»I feel like if you ask a chatbot, it gives a more correct and real answer. If you ask your parents or your friends, they just give you the answer you want to hear. (…) My parents don’t really care as much. Maybe they just give a shorter answer and don’t elaborate that much«, says a 15-year-old girl interviewed for the study.
At Save the Children, Secretary General Johanne Schmidt-Nielsen says she is »deeply concerned« about the spread and use of commercial AI conversation tools that are not appropriate for children. In part, she says, there is a significant risk that they will give misleading or incorrect advice to children and teenagers at a vulnerable stage of life. And in part, these AI chatbots are designed to respond in ways that keep users on the platform, further isolating children and teenagers, she says.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
This newsletter features stories originally published in Danish. AI was used to shorten and translate the articles into English, after which a member of the editorial staff reviewed and refined the content.