Polish fighter jets intercepted and escorted a Russian reconnaissance plane that approached Polish airspace over the Baltic Sea this Thursday, according to the Central European country’s Armed Forces.
“This morning, over the international waters of the Baltic Sea, Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified and escorted out of their zone of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance plane flying close to the borders of Polish airspace,” the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces reported on the social network X.
Furthermore, the military institution added that, during the night, objects were observed that penetrated Polish airspace from Belarus, probably balloons used by tobacco smugglers that were moving driven by the wind.
“The flight of all objects was continuously monitored by radar systems. To ensure safety, a part of the airspace over Województwo Podlaskie was temporarily closed to civilian traffic,” the Operational Command added.
In recent months, the growing number of smuggled balloons has sparked tensions between Belarus and Lithuania, which classified the incidents as “acts of hybrid warfare”, after they forced the suspension of air traffic at Vilnius airport on several occasions.
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