"Despite the holiday season, it was a busy night for the Polish air defense services on duty. This morning, over the international waters of the Baltic Sea, Polish fighter jets intercepted, visually identified, and escorted away from their area of responsibility a Russian reconnaissance aircraft, which was flying near the Polish airspace borders"
- the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces wrote on social media on Thursday morning.
According to the Polish military officials - during the night some objects were also observed entering Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus.
"After detailed analysis, it was determined that these were most likely smuggling balloons, moving in the direction and at the speed of the wind. Their flight was continuously monitored by our radar systems"
- the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces wrote.
As the officials added - for safety reasons part of the airspace over the eastern region of Podlasie was temporarily closed to civilian air traffic.
"The Operational Command of the Branches of the Armed Forces remains in constant contact with the relevant services, conducts ongoing information exchange, and provides necessary data regarding the observed objects. The relevant services are identifying them and taking the necessary actions. No threat to the security of Polish airspace has been identified"
- the statement said, adding that "the situation is being monitored on an ongoing basis, and forces and resources remain in constant readiness to ensure the security of Polish airspace".
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Source: PAP, IAR