‘Provocative Testing’: Russian Spy Plane Violates Polish Airspace, Intercepted by UK Jets

Fighter planes intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft that violated Poland’s airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday, military officials said.

The Russian Ilyushin Il-20 plane encroached about 2 km into Polish air space at around 10:50 a.m., and departed after a pair of British fighter jets stationed in Poland were scrambled to meet it, the Operational Command of the Polish armed forces said. 

“This is yet another instance of provocative testing of NATO countries’ readiness systems,” the Operational Command posted on the X platform. 

It added that the armed forces of Poland and its allies remain “in full readiness to protect the skies over Poland and the entire territory of the [NATO] Alliance.” 

The interception of the reconnaissance plane – carried out as part of NATO’s Air Policing mission – is the latest in a series of similar incidents involving Russian aircraft in the strategic Baltic region in recent months. 

‘Dangerous’ maneuvers 

In May, a Soviet-era Su-24 warplane was located and deterred by two Polish jets at the request of NATO forces in Europe after it performed what Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz called “dangerous” maneuvers in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. 

The same month, Estonia said that a Russian combat jet had entered its airspace, prompting a response from Portuguese F-16 planes based in the Baltic country as part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing Mission. 

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Lavrov Demands Russian Language Rights as Core Condition for Peace

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced that the full restoration of rights to Russian-speaking populations in Ukraine remains a non-negotiable condition for any long-term settlement of the war. Speaking on Saturday during a video address marking Russian Language Day, Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s long-standing accusations of systematic language discrimination and “Russophobia” by Kyiv – claims that served as primary justifications for the 2022 full-scale invasion.

Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has also been accused of efforts to sabotage undersea cables and pipelines in the Baltic region – claims the Kremlin denies. 

The Baltic Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and is surrounded by NATO member states Poland, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.