Sightings of unknown drones in Sweden are now calling the domestic intelligence service there. In the past few days, drones have been sighted over several nuclear power plants. Now drones have also been spotted over Stockholm.
Drones of unknown origin have flown over several Swedish nuclear power plants, causing a stir. The remote-controlled flying objects were seen over the Forsmark reactors in the east and Oskarshamn in south-eastern Sweden, the police said on Saturday. According to Swedish media reports, there were also sightings over the Ringhals nuclear power plant.
According to the police, the incident in Forsmark, around 140 kilometers north of Stockholm, happened on Friday evening. Task forces searched for the flying object by helicopter and with their own drones, but did not find it. “There is no evidence that the drone dropped anything over the area or landed,” police said.
According to Swedish Radio, the drone was described as being so big “that it could withstand the strong winds that were blowing in the area at the time.”
Renewed sightings over Forsmark – drones over Stockholm
On Monday there were sightings over Forsmark again. Police loudly confirmed that at least one drone flew over the nuclear power plant. Callers reported the flying object. According to information from the newspaper, police officers were able to confirm that it was a drone. A helicopter was used to search for the drone – without success. So far there are no suspects.
On the same day, drones were also spotted over the capital Stockholm, like the . Accordingly, during the course of the evening, the police received several observations from the public about drones at various locations in the greater Stockholm area. The police themselves have also made a number of their own sightings of drones. “There is currently no further comment on where drones have been seen in the greater Stockholm area, but one of the crimes under investigation involves violations of the Civil Aviation Act,” it said.
A witness who was able to photograph one of the drones over the capital described it to the newspaper as “a big piece flying around”. She flew over an amusement park and had lights on.
Domestic intelligence in Sweden is investigating
According to the search for the drones, a helicopter was used. The newspaper reports that a larger drone has been spotted over Drottningholm Palace. The Swedish royal couple has their private residence there. There were also sightings of drones over the airports in Kiruna and Luleå.
Now the domestic intelligence service (Säpo) is taking over the investigation. Specifically, it is about the drone sightings at the nuclear power plants Forsmark, Ringhals and Oskarshamn. “In general, security threats against Sweden have increased with a broader and deeper intelligence threat and a more complex threat picture,” it said.
Sweden had armored vehicles and dozens of soldiers patrolling the Baltic Sea island of Gotland on Friday after three Russian Navy ships entered the Baltic Sea through the Great Belt Straits in Denmark. Although Sweden is not a NATO member, it works closely with the defense alliance. Russia recently warned the country of “serious consequences” if it joins the alliance.
Expert: Interventions in protected objects “serious”
Martin Hagstrom, head of research at the Swedish Defense Research Institute (FOI), says drone overflights over nuclear power plants should be taken seriously. According to him, information indicated that the drones must have weighed at least ten kilos, as he explained. It does occasionally happen that private individuals accidentally get lost with their drones. However, Hagstrom has never heard of drones being sighted at three different nuclear power plants at the same time.
Interventions in protected objects are serious, so Hagstrom. But he can only speculate about the purpose of the drone flights. “I suppose security police spend a lot of time trying to determine what happened and what actually poses a threat. Before any conclusions are drawn, the threat that such a flying object actually poses needs to be analyzed fairly carefully.”
He adds: “Regardless of who piloted the drone, it can be a way of attracting attention, testing the system and seeing if the drones are detected. To see how Sweden is acting and if you like it a lot take seriously.”
Source From: Stern
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