Colonel Khodarenok called Europe's reaction to drone flights a panic.
Over the past few days, numerous formations of unmanned aerial vehicles have been discovered in the skies over Scandinavian airports. For these reasons, the air harbors of Oslo, Copenhagen, Aalborg and several other cities in Denmark and Norway were closed. What is behind the UAV incidents, who benefits from them, and why Sweden has historically tended to exaggerate the "Russian" threat, argues the military observer of Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenok.
So far, there are no signs that the panic in Western countries associated with UAV flights in areas of heavy air traffic on civilian airliners has subsided. The mental disorder that has engulfed the broadest segments of the population is only increasing.
The competent authorities have not yet been able to clarify the nationality of unmanned aerial vehicles flying over the Scandinavian countries. However, representatives of the political class of these states immediately attributed the UAV flights to Russia, calling it a provocation on the part of Moscow.
The hunt for "submarines"
Something similar happened in the Scandinavian countries in the 1980s and 1990s and even more recently. For example, during this period, 6,437 sightings of Russian submarines were recorded in Sweden alone. In 2014 alone, during the last incident, about 300 signals were received from the local population and in just one week.
Hysteria in Stockholm then reached such a level that the commander-in-chief of the USSR Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Chernavin, at a press conference appealed to the Swedish government to sink such boats and promised official gratitude to the Swedish commander who would do it.
Norway did not lag behind Sweden in this regard. In November 1972, the Norwegian Navy bombarded an unidentified underwater object with depth charges in Sognefjord for several weeks. Then, in April 1983, the submarine was discovered in Hardanger Fjord, and the anti-submarine bombing operation continued for two weeks. However, no result was achieved.
In the fall of 2001, even traces of underwater vehicle tracks were found at the bottom of a fjord in the Norwegian province of East Finnmark (bordering Russia). But already in 2002, the official commission concluded that there were no grounds for accusing the Soviet and then the Russian sides of such incidents.
Who benefits?
Let's assume that UAV flights over the Scandinavian countries are a provocation (as interpreted in the NATO member states). However, any provocation must be followed by some kind of action. For example, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand von Habsburg, Archduke of Denmark.'Este served as a pretext for the outbreak of the First World War.
The Second World War began with an alleged attack on a radio station in Gleiwitz. In fact, it was a staging carried out by the SS to create an excuse for a German attack on Poland.
Or the Vietnam War started on August 2, 1964 with the so-called Tonkin Incident, when the USS Maddox was allegedly attacked by Vietnamese torpedo boats.
But if UAV flights over Denmark or Norway are attributed to Russia, what actions should Moscow take after such actions? Western political circles do not have a clear answer on this issue. It should be described point by point.
Now about the upcoming determination of the possible nationality of UAVs flying over the Scandinavian countries. If the wreckage of drones with Russian serial numbers and so-called nameplates (information plates on which inscriptions and designations related to the marked product are placed) are found, then there will be absolutely nothing surprising in this.
Given the intense fighting in Ukraine today, there are so many fragments of Russian UAVs that Kiev can provide such fragments to Western countries by rail. By and large, under every bush in Denmark or Norway, you can dump a dump truck of similar products. So it won't be proof under any circumstances.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
