Poland has deployed troops to its eastern border after two Belarusian military helicopters allegedly violated Polish airspace during a training exercise.
According to Poland’s defense ministry, it was sending “additional forces and resources, including combat helicopters” and it put NATO on alert about the alleged border violation in Belarus.
“The Belarusian side had previously informed the Polish side about the training,” the ministry said. “The border crossing took place in the Białowieża area at a very low altitude, making it difficult to detect by radar systems.
“Therefore, in the morning announcement, the Operational Command of the Armed Forces Branches informed that the Polish radar systems did not record any violation of Polish airspace,” they continued.
The Belarusian military, meanwhile, denied any wrongdoing and accused Poland of inventing the accusation to justify a buildup of its troops. Belarus’s defense ministry wrote on Telegram that Warsaw had changed its mind about the incident “apparently after consulting its overseas masters”.
“This statement was not backed up by data from Poland,” the post added. “The Belarusian [defense] ministry views it in the manner of an ‘old wives’ tale’ and notes there were no border violations by Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters.”
Minsk also released a statement further denying any infringement of airspace, despite Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko taunting Poland over the presence of Russian Wagner mercenaries near their joint border earlier.
“The accusations of violation of the Polish border by Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force are too far-reaching and created by the Polish military and leadership to justify the concentration of troops and equipment on the Belarusian border,” the statement read.
Locals in the area of the eastern Polish village of Biaowiea, which is close to the Belarusian border, shared accounts on social media of what they claimed were border violations before the defense ministry released its statement.
This comes as Belarus and Poland have been on high alert along the border recently following the deployment of Wagner mercenary troops on the Belarusian side.
With concerns that the operation could be used as a cover for other covert missions aimed at destabilizing NATO, the PMC is in Belarus to train the national guard troops of the country.
