Belarusian combat helicopters entered Polish airspace on Tuesday morning local time. This reports the German news website n-tv.de with reference to data from the Polish Ministry of Defense.
After a long review, the Polish Ministry of Defense announces on Tuesday evening that combat helicopters from neighboring Belarus flew through Polish airspace near Bielowieza. In response, Poland has decided to inform NATO and send more troops to the border with Belarus. In Poland, it is assumed that this was a deliberate provocation, Polish Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz said in Warsaw. “This is absolutely dangerous. If such situations occur and escalate, our response will be commensurate with the potential danger.”
In addition to further troops, additional helicopters are to be deployed to the border with Belarus. Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko is considered a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin and most recently welcomed the Wagner Group mercenaries. Lukashenko jokes that he could send them to Warsaw for a “visit”. Poland, a NATO member that also shares a border with Ukraine, fears being dragged into the conflict even further.
Image: Kremlin.ru, Lukashenko-Putin meeting (2022-09-26) 02, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size modified)