Poland accuses Belarus of violating its airspace

Minsk had earlier warned Warsaw of an upcoming military exercise

Two Belarusian helicopters, a Mi-24 and a Mi-8, have violated the airspace of Poland, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Tuesday evening.

This happened during a military exercise that Minsk had previously warned Warsaw about. The Belarusian chargé d’affaires in Warsaw was urgently summoned to the ministry.

“The Polish Foreign Ministry expressed a strong protest and called on the Belarusian side to immediately provide detailed explanations about the incident. Poland emphasised that it considers the incident to be another step of escalating tensions on the Polish-Belarusian border. Poland expects Belarus to refrain from such actions,” reads the statement of the Polish Foreign Ministry.

Belarus rejected the accusations, calling them “far-fetched” and claiming they were made to “justify the build-up of forces and means near the Belarusian border”.

Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak ordered to increase the number of troops and deploy additional means, including helicopters, on the border, radio Bialystok reports. Poland has informed NATO about the incident.