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- Poland said it scrambled two fighter jets on Tuesday to intercept a Russian Il-20 spy plane.
- Warsaw said the plane didn’t violate Polish airspace, but turned off its transponder.
- It comes as NATO allies say they’re feeling increased pressure from Russian airspace violations.
Poland said on Wednesday that two of its fighter jets intercepted a Russian spy plane in the Baltic Sea, as NATO remains on edge over air incursions that it fears are a way for Moscow to test its responses.
The Polish Armed Forces said that the plane, an Ilyushin-20 turboprop-powered reconnaissance aircraft, was flying on Tuesday just outside Polish airspace but had turned off its transponder.
Flying dark in this manner typically indicates that a military aircraft is conducting, or providing support for, a surveillance mission.
The armed forces said in a statement that two Polish Mikoyan MiG-29s “successfully intercepted, visually identified, and escorted” the Russian plane.
“Thanks to the high combat readiness, the professionalism of the pilots and the efficient functioning of the air defense system, the operations were carried out quickly, effectively and safely,” the Polish Armed Forces’ operational command wrote in a statement.
The Russian defense ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.
Poland shares part of its northeastern border with Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea. The sea has been a particular area of tension since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, since it serves the coasts of eight NATO allies and Russia.
Warsaw has especially been on guard against Russian activity near its borders as of late, after it sounded the alarm over a series of drone incursions on September 10.
Several other European NATO allies on or close to the Baltic Sea, such as Denmark, have since also reported unannounced drones that forced airports to close.
On September 20, Estonia also invoked NATO’s Article 4, which summons the alliance’s member states for consultations, over what it said were three Russian fighter jets violating its airspace.
“Russia bears full responsibility for these actions, which are escalatory, risk miscalculation, and endanger lives,” NATO wrote in a statement shortly after Estonia’s request. “They must stop.”
More recently, Lithuania warned that it has been receiving hundreds of helium-filled balloons from Belarus, a close Russian ally, which it accused Minsk of permitting to fly over on purpose.
The size of the balloons poses a danger to aircraft, officials said, forcing the country to repeatedly shut its airports.
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