Drone Scare in Scandinavia as Sightings Over Critical Infrastructure Soar

Following the recent explosions on the Nord Stream pipeline network, which Moscow branded international terrorism and which led to a massive leakage under the Baltic Sea and “unprecedented” damage to what used to be Europe's main gas link, several European nations have increased security around critical infrastructure.

Drone activity has increased in Finland, including around critical infrastructure, the Nordic country's Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) has reported.

Supo research specialist Lotta Hakala said the intelligence service was monitoring the situation very actively, noting that drone sightings have been made in different parts of the country. The term “critical infrastructure” includes energy and transportation systems such as power plants, railroads and airports.

“We carry out background investigations, but we can't necessarily track down who was involved in all cases. We can't rule out anything”, Hakala told national broadcaster Yle.

Generally, the security service presumed the increased sightings of drones are at least partly due to an overall increase in vigilance. Nevertheless, it urged members of the public to report drone sightings to authorities, especially if spotted around critical infrastructure sites.

“We're not talking about individual sightings, but in our areas drones have been spotted near critical infrastructure in no-fly zones”, Eastern Uusimaa police department chief Ilkka Koskimäki told Yle. “Usually it is a hobbyist,” he said, adding that operators may be working for a foreign country, “especially these days.”

Following explosions on the Nord Stream pipeline network on September 26, which led to a massive leakage under the Baltic Sea and “unprecedented” damage to what used to be Europe's main gas link, several European nations have upped security around critical infrastructure. Moscow branded the attack as international terrorism, while the European Union and national leaders also said that the gas link was sabotaged.

Among others, security authorities in Sweden urged energy infrastructure operators to increase preparedness and vigilance.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Norway, the authorities boosted security at oil and gas installations, deploying the Home Guard. Nevertheless, police had to respond twice in a single day on Thursday, first by launching an evacuation of the Nyhamna gas processing plant, one of Europe's largest energy export facilities, in response to a fake telephone threat.

Subsequently, an armed police force was deployed at the Kårstø gas plant in Tysvær municipality following a drone sighting by the Norwegian Armed Forces. After several hours, the police terminated the operation with a negative result, concluding that the operator could have been anyone between a state actor and a hobbyist.

Earlier in October, drones were spotted in Denmark over the Roar gas field in the North Sea.