Sweden confirms Russian drone intercepted near French aircraft carrier

Swedish forces disrupt a drone launched from a Russian ship near a visiting French aircraft carrier in Swedish waters.Published On 28 Feb 2026Sweden’s military has confirmed that a drone disabled near a visiting French aircraft carrier this week was Russian, prompting France to condemn what it described as a “ridiculous provocation” by Moscow.The incident took place in the Oresund strait between Sweden and Denmark, as France’s flagship Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier was on a visit to the region.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Deadly drone strikes cloud US-brokered Russia-Ukraine talks in Genevalist 2 of 4Mapping Russian attacks and territorial gains across Ukrainelist 3 of 4Four years into the Ukraine war, Moscow sees vindication, not failurelist 4 of 4Hungary’s Orban orders extra security, alleges Ukraine attacks plotend of list“During the visit of the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, one of the Swedish Armed Forces’ vessels observed a drone taking off from a Russian signals intelligence ship,” the Swedish military said in a statement on Friday.“The Swedish Armed Forces can now confirm that a Russian drone has carried out an unauthorised flight,” it added.Sweden’s Defence Minister Pal Jonson said “technical data” confirmed the origins of the drone as being the Russian vessel “Zhigulevsk”, noting also that the incident “constitutes a breach of Sweden’s access regulations and a violation of Swedish airspace”.“The Swedish Armed Forces responded firmly and professionally with countermeasures that disrupted the drone,” Jonson said.According to the AFP news agency, a Swedish navy vessel, HMS Rapp, used technical equipment to disable the drone about 13km (eight miles) from the French carrier.Swedish forces took action when the Russian drone was deemed to be flying without authorisation.Sweden said the Russian ship failed to comply with regulations governing transit through Swedish waters and HMS Rapp later escorted the vessel out of Swedish maritime territory into the Baltic Sea.