Russian helicopter intrusion into Poland marks latest breach on NATO flank

A Russian military helicopter briefly crossed into Poland on Wednesday, prompting fighter jets to scramble in response to the latest in a series of aerial intrusions along NATO’s eastern flank.

The Mi-8 helicopter flying from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad penetrated about 350 yards into Polish territory and remained inside the country for 42 seconds, Poland’s operational command said in a statement.

“Fighter aircraft were scrambled, and ground-based forces and assets remained on standby,” the command said, adding that the incident was meant to test NATO’s air defense preparedness.

The incursion comes amid a flurry of encounters between NATO and Russian aircraft and drones around Poland and elsewhere along the alliance’s eastern edge.

A day before the helicopter incident, Polish fighters intercepted a Russian Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft flying about 30 miles off the Polish coast over the Baltic Sea.

“These are not isolated incidents, but an element of constant pressure,” Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in a statement Tuesday.

Early Thursday morning, Romania scrambled two F-16 fighter jets after an unidentified aerial target crossed into the country from Ukraine, the Romanian defense ministry said.

Hours earlier, two Spanish F-18s assigned to NATO’s air policing mission in Romania scrambled after radar detected a group of aerial targets over Ukraine near the Romanian border, the statement added.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk last week sounded the alarm over such incidents, saying there are intelligence indications that Russia could use drones or missiles against a NATO country and characterize it as accidental.

Such a move would be an attempt to test allies and cause divisions over how to respond, he said.

In recent weeks, other European officials have voiced similar concerns about what they say is a wider Russian campaign involving airspace violations, sabotage and cyberattacks.

However, some regional officials warned against unnecessary panic.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, whose country borders Russia, said Wednesday that there are no indications of a looming Russian attack on NATO.

“It’s empty on the other side of Estonia’s border because Russia’s troops are in Ukraine,” Tsahkna said. “Therefore, all the talk about Russia potentially attacking NATO soon is simply not supported by what we see on the ground.”