Denmark Simulates Launch of US Missile Capable of Hitting Russia's Kaliningrad

Responding to the simulated HIMARS launch, Russia's Ambassador to Denmark Vladimir Barbin warned that the Danish-American military activity on Bornholm risks turning Denmark’s easternmost island from a “peaceful haven into a potential military bridgehead”.

During Defender Europe 2022, a large multinational US-led joint military exercise, a simulated missile launch that has the potential of hitting Russia's Kaliningrad was carried out on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.

The HIMARS system which, according to Danish Radio, arrived at the island on a US C17 transport aircraft, has a range of 500km and could hit targets well beyond Danish territory.

At the time of the launch, a battalion of Royal Life Guards arrived on Bornholm to strengthen the defence of Denmark's easternmost island which has a population of 42,000. Lieutenant-Colonel and battalion commander Thomas Lunau said the goal was to show that the Armed Forces are able and willing to defend Bornholm militarily.

This year's version of Defender Europe was designed to build readiness and interoperability between US, NATO and its military partners, and featured more than 8,600 troops from 11 European countries, as well as the US.

Major and military analyst Esben Larsen of the Danish Defence Academy said the aim of the drill was to show that NATO is ready to come to the rescue of a country should it come under attack.

Danish Defence Minister Morten Bødskov emphasised that Denmark has a “central role in the Baltic Sea region” and went so far as to call the drill “a signal of solidarity” between the allies, who are ostensibly “standing together in a difficult time”, and a signal to Russia that “Putin won't win”.

As well as a lieutenant-colonel from the US military, there were representatives from Sweden and Norway present during the simulated launch. According to Bødskov, this is another “important message” for Putin signifying Nordic cooperation.

Jakob Seerup, a military historian and director of the Bornholm Museum, called the simulated launch “a truly historic day for Sunshine Island”, as Bornholm is affectionately known in Denmark. He added that the drill was “a breakthrough in Danish security policy”.

“Denmark has stood up on a huge beer crate, and with megaphone in hand, is shouting out to the Russians that we are willing to defend Denmark, even here on Bornholm,” Seerup told Danish Radio.

Russia registered its protest in response and its Ambassador to Denmark, Vladimir Barbin, warned that the Danish-American military activity on Bornholm risks turning Denmark’s Baltic Sea island from a “peaceful haven into a potential military bridgehead”.

In the spring of 1945, Soviet forces liberated the Danish island of Bornholm from Nazi occupation and remained there for 11 months after the German surrender. Although Danish, British and US politicians all doubted whether the Russians would withdraw from the island without considerable diplomatic and military pressure, the Soviet forces ultimately left the island peacefully. In recent years, Danish media and politicians have seemed to forget the role the Soviet Union played in the liberation of Bornholm, tending to focus instead on Soviet Air Force bombardments when it was still occupied by Nazis.