Poland accused Minsk of provocation

The Polish Interior Ministry called the accusations of Belarus in violation of the border by a Polish helicopter a provocation

Warsaw rejects Minsk's accusations of violating the republic's airspace. Poland called for "careful monitoring" of events in Belarus against the background of the ongoing CSTO exercises there

The accusations made by Minsk that the Polish military helicopter Mi-24 violated the airspace of Belarus is a provocation, said the Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration of Poland Mariusz Kaminsky.

"From time to time we face provocations of various kinds from the regime of [Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko]," the minister said (quoted by PAP).

Minsk's statement testifies to its strained relations with Warsaw, Kaminsky believes. They escalated in the summer when the fighters of the Wagner PMCs were allowed to leave for Belarus after an attempted mutiny. The founder of the CHEKA, Yevgeny Prigozhin, crashed in a plane crash in the Tver region on August 23, but Warsaw believes that the group still poses a threat.

"This is an attempt to respond to our very sharp protest — at the political and diplomatic level, in the context of the invasion of Belarusian helicopters into our space," Kaminsky is sure. The Minister is referring to the incident near the village of Belovezha, which is located between the Belarusian Brest and the Polish Bialystok. Then, according to Warsaw, two Belarusian helicopters violated the country's airspace. The Ministry summoned the Ambassador of Belarus, they protested to him. Minsk called the accusations far-fetched and considered them a pretext for building up the Polish military contingent at the border.

Kaminsky believes that the situation requires "very deep monitoring" of events in Belarus. He recalled that the exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are currently taking place in the republic "Combat brotherhood". Maneuvers. which will last until September 6, opened in Brest, near the border with Poland.

On September 1, the Belarusian authorities announced that the Polish Mi-24 crossed the state border in the Berestovitsky district of the Grodno region, flew to a depth of 1.2 km, and then returned back. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry summoned the Charge d'affaires of Poland and demanded explanations. Warsaw denies the charges.