Poland accuses Russian military helicopter of violating its airspace

Poland has said a Russian military helicopter briefly violated its airspace, forcing the Nato member to scramble fighter jets while ground forces remained on alert.

Its military said the Mi-8 aircraft had crossed from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on Wednesday morning, penetrating Polish airspace to a depth of about 300 metres (328 yards) and staying for 42 seconds north of Braniewo.

It said "the nature of the incident indicates that Russia is once again testing the readiness of our air defence". Moscow did not comment immediately.

Poland and other European Nato members have recently said Russia may be preparing attacks to test their commitment to supporting Ukraine - Moscow denies this.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Moscow does not plan to attack Nato states.

By contrast, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this month that it was Europe that was constantly talking about preparing for war, and he warned: "If Europe attacks Russia, it will be a completely different war [from that in Ukraine], and it will be very short."

Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimea peninsula annexed in 2014.

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