POLAND DEMANDS AN APOLOGY AFTER RUSSIAN HELICOPTER CROSSES BORDER

POLAND DEMANDS AN APOLOGY AFTER RUSSIAN HELICOPTER CROSSES BORDER “If Russia apologizes, we won’t make a big deal out of it,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said after a Russian military helicopter violated Polish airspace near the Kaliningrad region. The Russian Mi-8 crossed the border north of Braniewo at approximately 11:08 a.m. local time on […]

POLAND DEMANDS AN APOLOGY AFTER RUSSIAN HELICOPTER CROSSES BORDER

“If Russia apologizes, we won’t make a big deal out of it,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said after a Russian military helicopter violated Polish airspace near the Kaliningrad region.

The Russian Mi-8 crossed the border north of Braniewo at approximately 11:08 a.m. local time on September 23. Poland’s military said it penetrated approximately 300 meters into Polish territory and remained inside the country’s airspace for 42 seconds.

Polish forces monitored the aircraft and scrambled fighter jets in response. The Polish Armed Forces assessed that the nature of the incident suggested Russia was once again testing the readiness of the country’s air defenses.

Sikorski left Moscow a simple path to prevent the incident from escalating: acknowledge that the Russian pilot made a mistake and apologize. Whoever is responsible, he said, must admit the error.

Forty-two seconds may appear brief, but NATO airspace does not become negotiable simply because a violation ends quickly. Russia crossed the border, Poland detected it, and Warsaw is now waiting to see whether Moscow admits what happened.