Overview
- Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified, and escorted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft over international Baltic waters near the country's airspace boundary.
- Overnight radar tracked objects entering from Belarus that the military assessed as likely smuggling balloons moving with the wind, and no threat was detected.
- Authorities temporarily closed part of the Podlaskie region's airspace to civilian traffic to ensure safety during the monitoring effort.
- Poland’s National Security Bureau said the scale and holiday timing of the incursions could indicate a provocation disguised as smuggling, citing similar cases affecting Lithuania.
- Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said the situation was under control and noted allied support, including Spanish air policing and Dutch air-defense assistance.