A Russian military helicopter briefly entered Polish airspace on Wednesday morning, the operational command of Poland’s armed forces has announced.

The incident is the latest in a series of airspace violations by Russia, which have also involved drones and, most recently, a missile. It follows recent warnings by the Polish government that Moscow has been planning further “provocations” intended to test NATO’s defences and unity.

On Wednesday afternoon, Polish operational command announced that, shortly after 11:00 a.m. that day, an Mi-8 helicopter belonging to the Russian armed forces had briefly entered Polish airspace near the town of Braniewo, after crossing from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

The helicopter did not travel further than 300 metres into Polish airspace and remained there for 42 seconds. In response, the Polish military scrambled fighter jets and placed ground forces on standby.

“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is once again testing the readiness of our air defences,” wrote operational command. At the time of writing, Russia has not commented on the incident.

Today’s violation appears to be the first publicly reported instance of a Russian military helicopter crossing Poland’s land border. Last year, in two separate incidents, a Russian Su-24 bomber and a naval helicopter flew over Poland’s territorial waters in the Baltic Sea.

In 2023, two helicopters belonging to the armed forces of Belarus, a close ally of Russia, briefly entered Polish airspace before crossing back over the border.

On one night in September last year, around 20 Russian drones entered Poland over its eastern borders amid Russian attacks on Ukraine. Polish and allied forces shot down some of them, while others hit the ground without causing casualties.

In July this year, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile carrying a significant explosive payload entered Polish airspace before landing in a field in eastern Poland.

In recent months, Poland and other NATO countries have been warning of Russian plans to carry out further “provocations” intended to test the alliance’s defences and unity, saying that they could include border and airspace violations.

In the last few weeks, Poland has regularly intercepted Russian aircraft that have flown close to Polish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea. This month, Russian drones have repeatedly hit targets in Ukraine near to the Polish border, including a passenger train travelling from Kyiv to Warsaw.

Just last week, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that, according to intelligence sources, Russia is planning drone and missile strikes on eastern NATO countries, which it would present as accidental.

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Main image credit: Alexander Kopitar/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY-SA 4.0)