Poland will increase the number of troops at its border with Belarus after two helicopters from Belarus violated Poland's airspace on Tuesday, Poland's Ministry of National Defence said in a statement. Belarusian MOD denied that its helicopters had done so.
The Polish MOD said two Belarusian helicopters had violated Polish airspace during maneouvres, about which "the Belarusian side had earlier informed the Polish side".
"The violation of the border took place in the area near Białowieża at a very low altitude, hampering radar system detection. That is why the Operational Command of Armed Forces Branches informed in the morning statement that Polish radar systems had not detected violations of Polish airspace," we read.
According to the statement released, NATO has been informed of the incident. Belarus' charge d'affairs was called in to explain the situation.
"We remind that Russia and Belarus have recently intensified hybrid operations against Poland," the MOD said.
Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a "strong protest" and urged Belarusian authorities to provide a detailed explanation of the incident.
"The Polish side stressed the incident is regarded as another element of tension escalation at the Polish-Belarusian border. Poland expects Belarus to refrain from this kind of activity," the MFA said.
Belarusian defence ministry denied in its Telegram channel on Tuesday evening its military helicopters had violated the border with Poland, adding that Warsaw had changed its mind about the incident "apparently after consulting its overseas masters".
"Accusations of a violation of the Polish border by Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force and air defense forces are farfetched and made by the Polish military and political leadership to justify the build-up of forces and means at the Belarusian border," the ministry said.
"This statement was not backed up by data from Poland," it said. "The Belarusian Defence 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."
Residents of areas near the eastern Polish city of Białowieża, close to the Belarus border, shared accounts on social media of what they said were border violations before the defence minister issued its statement.
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters