Russian Mi-8 violated Poland's airspace near Kaliningrad

A Russian military Mi-8 helicopter violated Poland's airspace near the border with the Kaliningrad Region on the morning of September 23. In response, Polish military scrambled fighter jets and put ground-based air defense forces on alert.

According to the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces, the incident occurred at 11:08 a.m. north of the town of Braniewo in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. The Russian Mi-8 was flying from the direction of the Kaliningrad Region and crossed the Polish border.

According to the command, the helicopter penetrated Polish airspace to a maximum depth of about 300 meters. It was on the Polish side for 42 seconds before leaving it.

The flight of the Russian helicopter was tracked by Polish Armed Forces radar systems. The military reported that in connection with the border violation, on-duty fighter jets were scrambled and ground forces and assets remained in a state of readiness. The Polish side did not report the use of weapons.

The Operational Command of Poland assessed the incident as another attempt by Russia to test the response of the Polish air defense system. This is the assessment of the Polish military: no explanations for the reasons for crossing the border by the Russian side had been provided at the time of publication.

The command also stressed that Polish air defense personnel monitor the country's airspace around the clock and are in constant readiness to respond. Rzeczpospolita, citing a representative of the Operational Command, Jacek Goryszewski, writes that Polish forces were ready to react to the actions of the Russian helicopter.

The incident came a day after another activity by Russian military aviation near Polish borders. On September 22, Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea about 40 km from the Polish coast. In that case, the Russian aircraft did not violate Polish airspace.

Poland's Minister of National Defence, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, stated at the time that such cases are not isolated, calling them an element of constant pressure and testing of the alliance's eastern flank. Russian Il-20s were intercepted by Polish aviation near the country's coast earlier in September as well. According to Polish media, during the previous episode the Russian aircraft also remained outside Polish airspace.

Thus, the episode on September 23 differs from recent intercepts over the Baltic in that Polish officially recorded an outright violation of the state airspace by the Russian military aircraft.

Based on materials from: Polish Armed Forces Operational Command, Rzeczpospolita, Bankier.pl