2023-09-02 05:27:48
On the Polish-Belarusian border, military movements are deliberately scrutinized. Belarus denounced, with video support, the “unacceptable” violation of its airspace in the afternoon by a military helicopter belonging to Poland, a member country of NATO.
Warsaw has categorically denied these accusations, calling them “lies and provocations”. There were “no such violations”, said Jacek Goryszewski, spokesman for the operational command of the Polish armed forces.
A crossing at very low altitude
“Belarusian diplomats drew the attention of the Polish side to the inadmissibility of this violation and urged Warsaw to take measures to rule out such incidents in the future,” the official said in the afternoon. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, summoning the Polish Chargé d’Affaires in Belarus.
Belarusian border guards claimed on Telegram video in support that a “Polish Mi-24 military helicopter crossed the state border at very low altitude at a depth of 1,200m before returning”.
On Monday, Warsaw and the Baltic countries had demanded that Belarus “immediately expel” the Wagner group from its territory, which they consider a threat to their own security. Sign of the estrangement, Poland and Lithuania have erected fences along their borders with Belarus and Warsaw plans to deploy up to 10,000 soldiers there.
Lithuania, on August 18, closed two of the six border crossings with its pro-Russian neighbor in reaction to Wagner’s presence. Thousands of Wagner fighters had traveled to Belarus after their abortive rebellion in Russia in June. In particular, they participated in the training of local soldiers, with Minsk’s agreement.
After the recent death of Wagner’s boss in a plane crash, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he wanted to keep up to 10,000 of the group’s fighters in his country.
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