The Minister of Defense of Poland, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, reported this Monday that the country's air defense systems have detected and intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft model IL-20 when it was about 30 kilometers off the Polish coast in the north of the country. However, he specified that the aircraft did not breach national airspace over the Baltic Sea.
"Russia, once again, has tested our deterrence and air defense systems," stated a message on social media from the Defense Minister, detailing that Polish fighters intercepted the aircraft 30 kilometers north of Leba, in the north of the country.
Polish authorities remind that Russian reconnaissance planes, and recently also combat aircraft, frequently fly over the Baltic Sea with their transponders turned off and without filing flight plans, which complicates their tracking and makes the work of air traffic control services more difficult.
Warsaw had already ordered the deployment of its fighters to intercept Russian aircraft on several occasions in early August and again in mid-July. Such episodes have become commonplace since the beginning of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched by President Vladimir Putin in February 2022.