Belarus says Polish helicopter violated airspace, Warsaw denies

Belarus has claimed that a Polish helicopter had violated its airspace as tensions are high between the two countries amid the conflict in Ukraine.

“Around 1520 (1220 GMT), the aircraft crossed the border of the Republic of Belarus, flew to a depth of up to 1.5 km. At 1622, the helicopter repeatedly violated the state border, going 300 metres deep,” the Ministry of Defence of Belarus said on Thursday on its Telegram channel.

Belarus, Russia’s closest ally, said it had scrambled military aircraft in response.

The Polish army said the Belarusian claim was “false”.

“Records made by flight control stations and radar stations confirm: such an event did not take place,” the army’s operational command said in a statement.

“The Polish army respects and follows all provisions and regulations relating to the inviolability of borders.”

Belarus has repeatedly accused the EU member of breaching its airspace. Warsaw has denied the claims.

Belarus’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the Polish charge d’affaires, Marcin Wojciechowski, to protest.

According to the ministry, Minsk has demanded Warsaw conduct “an objective investigation into the incident” and take measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

Last week, the Kremlin said that Moscow and its ally Belarus were “watching” Poland closely, calling it a “rather aggressive” country.