Polish Jets Intercept Russian Spy Plane Over Baltic Sea

Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian Ilyushin Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea and forced it to withdraw, in what Warsaw described as another attempt by Moscow to probe NATO’s air defenses.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced this on Tuesday, calling the situation “another Russian provocation over the Baltic Sea.”

“I remind you. It is Russia that is the aggressor,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said, adding that the aircraft was “gathering intelligence on the defense systems” and that “Russia is testing the Alliance’s readiness in this way.”

Pattern of incursions continues

The Il-20 is a Russian electronic and imagery intelligence aircraft that has repeatedly flown over the Baltic Sea, often without a filed flight plan and with its transponder switched off, making it invisible to civilian radar.

The latest incident represents the 10th interception of a Russian military aircraft in Poland since the beginning of the year, United24Media reported, adding that the last encounter between Polish fighters and a Russian reconnaissance plane occurred in May.

In 2025, a Russian Il-20 crossed roughly 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) into Polish airspace over the Baltic Sea, prompting British fighter jets stationed in Poland to scramble and intercept it, according to TVP World.

Similar incidents occured during the same month when Polish jets were scrambled after a Soviet-era Su-24 performed what Kosiniak-Kamysz called “dangerous” maneuvers over the Baltic Sea, and Estonia reported a separate Russian jet incursion that drew a response from NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission. 

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Wider regional tensions

The incident adds to a pattern of recent airspace violations across Eastern Europe.

A Russian drone previously violated Moldovan airspace during a massive bombardment of Ukraine in May, crossing from Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region deep into Moldovan territory before disappearing from radar near Giurgiulești, a port village bordering NATO member Romania. According to United24Media, the incident forced Moldovan authorities to temporarily restrict national airspace across northern and central regions.

Since 2022, Russia has also faced accusations of sabotaging undersea cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea, claims the Kremlin denies, according to TVP World.

Several European authorities have recently warned that Russia could be prepared to test or directly attack NATO‘s collective defense within the next few years, citing its wartime military buildup and repeated probing of allied airspace and infrastructure as evidence of longer-term intent. 

Most recently on Tuesday, Moldova summoned a Russian envoy over the Geran-2 (Shahed-136) drone crash near a residential house in Copanca village, Căușeni district, which entered Moldovan airspace while Russia was carrying out air strikes on Ukraine overnight on Monday, July 13.

In a separate strike on Tuesday, Russian armed forces struck three merchant ships in the Black Sea within hours of each other on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring three others as attacks on Odesa’s port infrastructure entered a fifth consecutive day.  

Just two days earlier, Swedish Air Force JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets scrambled twice to intercept and escort Russian military aircraft flying near Swedish airspace over the Baltic Sea. The Swedish Armed Forces confirmed that the separate incidents involved Russian Su-24 and Su-34 jets.