Belarus, one of the key allies of Russia, warned Poland before the wave of Russian drones, which penetrated the Polish airspace on Wednesday, was confirmed by the Chief of General Staff of the Polish Army General Wieslaw Kukula. TASR informs according to the report of Polish TV TV.
At night, at least 19 drones disrupted the Polish airspace, which Warsaw described as a “act of aggression” and said it was Russian drones coming from the direction from Belarus. Several of these drones were shot down by Poland and NATO fighters.
Belarus warned Poland
According to Kukul, the warning by Belarus was “useful for us”, but to some extent “surprising” due to the Belarusian support of Russia in war in Ukraine and tension along the Belarus-Polish border.
“The Belarusians warned us that drones are heading through their airspace,” Kukula said, adding that Poland received the tip and shared information about the objects flying towards Belarus.
Poland will close the borders
“I was surprised that Belarus, which is really trying to escape the situation at our ground border, decided to cooperate,” he told TVN24.
Just a few hours before the airspace disturbance, Poland announced that it will temporarily close the country’s border crossing with Belarus since Thursday evening in response to extensive common Russian-white military exercise called Woveh.
Military exercise
This exercise is to start on Friday and will last until Tuesday next week. Poland said on Wednesday after the drone incident that the borders of Belarus will be closed “until further notice”, recalls TVP.
The Polish authorities argue that one of the goals of the operation is to practice the attack on the so -called Suwal corridor, a narrow belt of the territory connecting Poland and Lithuania, but located between Belarus and the Russian exclative Kaliningrad.
Belarus, before General Kukula’s statements, announced on Wednesday that Poland notified before the drones penetrated into its airspace, and it also informed Lithuania. This was stated for Belta by the Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense Major General Pavel Muraveika.
However, he added that drones deviated during combat operations in Ukraine and therefore disrupted the Polish airspace – unlike the Polish claims that it was an intentional provocation by Russia.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied that it would deliberately enter the Polish airspace, and stated that during the attack on Ukraine at night from Tuesday to Wednesday “should not do so”. The Russian diplomat in Warsaw said that the drones “came from Ukraine”, adds TVP.
