Minsk denies violating Polish airspace, claims it is "justification for building up forces"
The Belarusian Ministry of Defence has repudiated statements on the violation of Polish airspace in the Podlaskie Voivodeship by two Belarusian helicopters.
Source: statement of the Ministry, cited by European Pravda
Details: The Belarusian Ministry of Defence believes that Warsaw uses allegations of violation of Polish airspace for "another justification for the build-up of forces and assets near the Belarusian border."
Quote: "The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus will view the message, not confirmed by the data of objective control by Poland, as something akin to folk’s gossip and notes that there was no violation of airspace by Mі-24 and Mі-8 helicopters," they added.
On Tuesday 1 August, the Polish Defence Ministry claimed that the country's airspace was violated by helicopters that carried out exercises near the border.
At first, the official Warsaw denied the violation of airspace, but later explained that the border crossing took place near the city of Białowieża at a very low altitude, and this made it difficult to detect it by radar systems.
In connection with the situation, Poland will strengthen border security, in particular with military helicopters, inform NATO about the incident, as well as summon the Charge D'Affaires of Belarus for explanations.
Mercenaries of the Wagner Group PMC have been moving from Russia to Belarus for some time; they moved there after an attempted mutiny in Russia. The Polish side has repeatedly stressed that the Wagnerites pose a threat to Poland, and reinforced the Belarusian-Polish border.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has announced the relocation of a group of mercenaries from the Wagner Group to the Suwałki Gap, which connects Poland with the Baltic States and also separates the territory of Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast and Belarus.
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