Poland intercepts Russian plane near its airspace – How many times has Moscow violated its airspace?

Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Thursday (Dec 25). Poland’s National Security Bureau said that dozens of objects also entered from Moscow’s ally Belarus overnight, identified as likely smuggling balloons, calling it a “provocation disguised as a smuggling operation” during the holiday season. “This morning, over the international waters of the Baltic Sea, Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified, and escorted from their area of ​​responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying near the borders of Polish airspace,” the Polish army said on Thursday.

This comes amid the time when NATO nations have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions since September, when Russian jets violated the airspace of nations, including Estonia, Romania, Poland, and Lithuania.

However, this is not the first time that Russian aircraft have violated Poland’s airspace. Since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, there have been several breaches of airspace in Poland and other NATO member countries.
Here are the times when Polish airspace was violated by Russia:

Polish radar detected an unidentified object in their airspace during a Russian missile attack on Ukraine, but the object disappeared from the radar near the city of Bydgoszcz before it could be identified. Four months later, on April 27, 2023, the wreckage of a Kh-55 cruise missile was found by a civilian riding a horse in a forest in Zamość, 15 km west of the city of Bydgoszcz. The missile was fired by Russia during its attack on Ukraine, but mistakenly veered off course, travelling into Poland.

A Russian missile violated Polish airspace on December 29, 2023. The missile breached the airspace for less than three minutes and was tracked by Polish and allied radar systems. In response, Poland summoned the Russian chargé d'affaires over the incident.

Similar to the incident in December 2023, a Russian cruise missile fired towards Ukraine violated Polish airspace for 39 seconds, near the village of Oserdów. The incident prompted the Polish and the allies to activate their aircraft.

In another incident, a Russian Su-24 violated Polish airspace near Gdańsk Bay for one minute and 12 seconds. The aircraft reached 6.5 kilometres (4 miles) into Polish territory. Polish military officials said that Russia had admitted the breach of airspace, blaming it on a malfunction in the aircraft’s navigation system.

On the evening of April 25, 2025, a Russian military helicopter from the Baltic Fleet entered Polish airspace over its territorial waters. The helicopter was tracked by the Polish military radar and the Air Navigation Agency until it exited its airspace.

In another concerning incident, a Russian drone, likely a Geran-2, crashed and exploded in Osiny, Łuków County, a village located around 100 kilometres (62 miles) inside the Polish territory. The wreckage of the drone was found later in the morning in an 8-10 metre diameter burnt area. While the explosion damaged some buildings in the village, no injuries were reported. The drone was not detected by Polish radar.

On September 4, two Russian drones breached the Polish airspace during an attack on western Ukraine. In response, Polish and allied aircraft were scrambled following the violation. The drones were closely monitored until they left the Polish territory.

Days later, at least 21 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on the night of 9-10 September. Following the violation, allied aircraft, including Polish, Dutch, Italian and American, began operating in the airspace, and air defence and radar systems were put on high alert, prompting the closure of several airports in the country. Up to four Russian drones were shot down, while one crashed in Oleśno, near Elbląg. Poland also invoked NATO Article 4 in response.

On September 19, two Russian fighter jets violated the safety zone of the Orlen Petrobaltic drilling platform.