Poland scrambles fighters after Russian Mi-8 enters airspace near Kaliningrad

Poland scrambled fighter aircraft on Wednesday after a Russian military helicopter briefly entered Polish airspace near the border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command said.

The incident took place at 11:08 on 23 September, north of the town of Braniewo in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.

According to the Operational Command, the Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Armed Forces was flying from Kaliningrad when it crossed into Polish airspace. It reached a maximum depth of approximately 300 metres inside Polish territory and remained there for 42 seconds.

Polish military radar systems tracked the aircraft throughout the incident.

Fighter aircraft were scrambled in response, while ground-based forces and air-defence assets remained ready for action, the command said.

The Polish military went further than simply describing the incursion as accidental.

“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is once again testing the readiness of our air defence,” the Operational Command said in its statement. It added that Polish air-defence personnel continue round-the-clock monitoring of the country’s airspace.

Government spokesman Adam Szłapka separately confirmed the basic details of the incident, saying the helicopter had flown about 300 metres into Polish airspace for 42 seconds and that Polish fighters had been scrambled.

There was no immediate indication that the helicopter posed a direct threat to civilians or that Polish aircraft attempted to engage it.

The Russian embassy in Warsaw had not immediately responded to a request for comment following the incident.

Wednesday’s incursion comes during a period of heightened Polish military vigilance linked both to Russia’s war against Ukraine and to previous violations of NATO airspace.

Poland has repeatedly activated military aviation and ground-based air-defence systems during major Russian missile and drone attacks on western Ukraine. On 21 September, Polish military aircraft were again deployed as a precaution during Russian strikes, though no violation of Polish airspace was reported during that operation.

Polish authorities have also dealt with more serious incursions.

In September 2025, multiple Russian drones crossed into Polish airspace during a major attack on Ukraine, prompting Polish and allied aircraft to respond and triggering consultations among NATO members. NATO subsequently described that incident and other Russian airspace violations on the alliance’s eastern flank as part of a wider pattern of increasingly dangerous behaviour.

More recently, on 31 July 2026, Poland summoned Russia’s ambassador after a Russian cruise missile violated Polish airspace. The Foreign Ministry handed over a protest note and demanded that Moscow stop actions that could endanger Polish citizens or civilian aviation.

Poland’s defence authorities have therefore increasingly treated even short incursions as part of a wider security problem rather than isolated technical incidents.

That context makes the Braniewo incident significant despite its short duration.

The helicopter penetrated only a few hundred metres into Polish airspace and remained there for less than a minute, but the Polish Operational Command’s own assessment was that the flight appeared intended to test the country’s response.

No further Polish diplomatic or NATO action had been announced immediately after the incident.

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