Russian military helicopter violates Polish airspace
The helicopter did not travel further than 300 metres into Polish airspace and remained there for 42 seconds.
On September 23, 2026, a Russian military helicopter unlawfully entered Polish airspace near Braniewo, according to the Polish Armed Forces' operational command. The incident occurred just after 11:00 a.m. local time, and the Mi-8 helicopter remained in Polish airspace for 42 seconds, traveling no more than 300 meters before exiting.
In response, Polish fighter jets were scrambled, and ground forces were placed on standby. The operational command stated that the incident suggests Russia is testing the readiness of Poland's air defenses once again. This is the first publicly reported case of a Russian military helicopter crossing Poland's land border, although similar incidents have occurred involving Russian bombers and naval helicopters over Polish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea in recent years.
Written by urgent.news from Notes from Poland's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
Also reported by 7 other outlets
- Russian Mi-8 Helicopter Briefly Violates Polish Airspace, Poland Scrambles Fighters kyivpost.com
- Russian Mi-8 helicopter violates Polish airspace near Kaliningrad, Poland says kyivindependent.com
- Russian military helicopter violates Polish airspace en.interfax.com.ua
- Poland says Russian military helicopter violated its airspace meduza.io
- Russian military helicopter violates Polish airspace, fighter jets scrambled euronews.com
- Poland accuses Russian military helicopter of violating its airspace bbc.co.uk
- Russian Military Helicopter Briefly Entered Polish Airspace themoscowtimes.com
