Poland says the Russian Federation is “once again” testing the readiness of NATO air defences after a Mi-8 helicopter briefly entered Polish airspace on Wednesday, triggering the deployment of alliance jet interceptors.
A Russian Mi-8 helicopter flew into Polish airspace from the Kaliningrad (Konigsberg, Królewiec) Oblast — a Russian territorial exclave in northern Europe — on Wednesday morning, triggering an alert. Fighter jets were scrambled to intercept and ground troops were placed on alert, the Polish military’s Operational Command of the Armed Forces in Warsaw said.
The incursion into Polish, and NATO, airspace was very brief. According to the military command centre, the military transport helicopter flew in at an altitude of 300 meters (1,000 feet) for just 42 seconds. The helicopter flew into Poland from Kaliningrad near the town of Braniewo in the Warmia (Ermland) region, close to to he Vistula Lagoon.
A statement from Warsaw stated it was their belief the incident “indicates that Russia is once again testing the readiness of our air defense.”
The drift of Russian aircraft and munitions into NATO airspace has become a persistent issue, to the extent that in most cases it no longer excites comment. Dozens of presumed-Russian drones cross into European NATO nations every month, and in some cases have to be shot down.
Poland, which is perhaps the most hawkish major NATO nation on Russia, takes the position that all Russian aircraft and weapons making their way onto their territory are deliberate provocations. The country scrambled jets on Christmas day after detecting as Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, escorting the aircraft away.
In September 2025, Poland shot down a whole wave of 19 Russian drones which entered its airspace, calling it a deliberately targeted attack. Poland’s foreign minister said: “the assessment of Polish and NATO air forces is that they did not veer off course but were deliberately targeted… I am aware that Russia claims there is no evidence these were Russian drones, even suggesting a Ukrainian provocation. This was anticipated. Lies and denials are default Soviet responses. The Kremlin is again mocking President Trump’s peace efforts.”
Today’s helicopter flight fringing Poland’s northern shores came amid another air incursion, with the army deployed near the great Medieval castle at Malbork (Marienburg) to find remains of a “mysterious object” believed to have crashed in the area. The military’s’ air defence radars detected the object, which they say could have been a “a balloon, a metrological phenomenon or a flock of birds”, reports PolSatNews.
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