WARSAW/ISTANBUL

Polish fighter jets intercepted and escorted a "Russian reconnaissance aircraft" flying over international waters of the Baltic Sea near Polish airspace, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces claimed on Thursday.

According to the statement, the aircraft was visually identified and monitored while operating close to Poland’s area of responsibility. No violation of Polish airspace was reported.

“Despite the holiday period, the past night was busy for Poland’s air defense duty services,” the command said on US social media company X.

Separately, the military confirmed that objects entering Polish airspace overnight from the direction of Belarus were detected and tracked. After analysis, they were assessed to be smuggling balloons drifting with the wind.

As a precaution, parts of the airspace over the Podlaskie region in northeast Poland were temporarily closed to civilian traffic, the statement added.

Polish authorities said the situation is being continuously monitored and that air defense forces remain on constant alert.

"All provocations over the Baltic Sea and near the border with Belarus were under the full control of the Polish Army," Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on X.

Intercepts of Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea are not unusual and form part of routine NATO air-policing activities.

The reference to “objects” entering from Belarus reflects a broader pattern on Poland’s eastern flank.

In recent years, Poland has faced a combination of airspace incidents, GPS interference, drone sightings, and smuggling operations—often described by officials as elements of hybrid pressure rather than conventional military threats.

While most such objects turn out to be benign or criminal in nature, authorities increasingly treat them through a security lens shaped by the war in Ukraine and deteriorating relations with Russia.

Temporarily closing civilian airspace is a standard precaution in such cases and signals institutional caution rather than escalation. Crucially, Polish officials emphasized monitoring and control, avoiding language that would suggest an immediate crisis.

Russia has not yet issued a statement on Poland's military claims as of the publication of this report at 1920GMT.