In a swift response to reports circulating on Friday evening, Poland’s Operational Command of the Armed Forces vehemently denied claims that a Polish MI-24 helicopter had breached Belarusian airspace. The accusations were made by the Belarusian Border Guard, as reported by Reuters and AFP news agencies, alleging that the helicopter had crossed into Belarusian territory for a distance of 1.2 kilometers before returning to Poland.
Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski cautioned against accepting these claims at face value, emphasizing that Belarusian security and border-control services are closely aligned with the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko. Jablonski expressed skepticism about the credibility of their statements, stating, “what (the Belarusian security services – ed.) say is not usually based on the truth and is intended to achieve political aims,” often directed unfavorably towards Poland.
A spokesperson for Poland’s Operational Command, responsible for overseeing military missions, firmly rejected the accusations, labeling them “an outright falsehood and a deliberate provocation.” The Operational Command conducted a thorough analysis of the situation, citing data from registration and radio-location records that purportedly show no evidence of such an incident occurring.