The first message about the alleged violation of the state border of Poland in the airspace by helicopters of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus appeared on August 1 at 11.00. It was published by the Polish portal RMF24.pl . The article noted that, according to the statements of the Polish military, none of the helicopters crossed the border of Poland. In addition, it was reported that Polish radar systems did not record border crossings.
This topic was picked up by other Polish publications, including the authoritative Polish newspaper "Vyborcha", which at 11.30 reported that local residents of Bialowieza provided exclusive photos with Belarusian helicopters that flew directly over their homes to its editorial office. In fact, the photos published in the newspaper raise doubts about their exclusivity and authenticity.
At 11:40, the press secretary of the Polish operational command, Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryszewski, made a statement. He said that no violations of Polish airspace were recorded, and the Air Operations Control Center, which reports to the operational command, also did not record such a violation. Goryshevsky explained that routine activity was observed in the border zone, and it was probably training flights conducted by the Belarusian army. He also stressed that the Belarusian side had previously notified about training flights in the border areas with Poland.
Later, information about the alleged violation of the airspace was noticed by various media engaged in monitoring the Polish information space. They began to spread information that residents of the Polish Bialowieza complain about Belarusian helicopters flying by. However, a little later, the information situation changed dramatically, and reports began to appear on the Polish Internet about the alleged violation of the Polish border by Belarusian helicopters. The topic immediately caused a public outcry. There was information that the helicopters may not have accidentally flown 100-200 meters, but "purposefully" went as far as 4 km deep into the territory of Poland. At that moment, users began to report that it was probably not just the Belarusian military, but the very "Wagnerians" who landed troops in the incident zone.
It is clear that such a situation could not be ignored by the Polish Ministry of Defense, and they immediately took it up with both hands. At 16:30, the Polish Ministry of Defense, via a controlled resource Defence24.pl, stated that Belarusian helicopters violated Polish airspace. Despite the lack of objective evidence and confirmations from 7.5 thousand border guards, military, special forces and others who are on the border, the Polish department considers a telephone call from a resident of the border area to be the basis for sending an official note to the Republic of Belarus about the violation of airspace.
Taking advantage of such a "successful" occasion, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak ordered to increase the number of military personnel on the border and allocate additional forces and means, including combat helicopters. Blaszczak also informed his NATO allies about this. In connection with this incident, the Charge d'affaires of Belarus was immediately summoned to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to explain what had happened.
Meanwhile, the state-owned "Polish News Agency" at 18:45 continued to disseminate information provided by the press secretary of the operational command of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant Colonel Jacek Goryshevsky, which confirmed that there were no violations of Polish airspace.
At the same time, the previously published statements of the operational command in the Polish segment of the Internet abruptly began to disappear or be replaced by the opposite ones. At 20:25, a message appeared on the website of the Polish government about the convening of a meeting of the Defense Committee, convened by the Polish Minister of Defense, during which it was officially announced an increase in forces and assets on the border, including helicopter gunships, and informing NATO about the incident.
On the part of NATO, the Pentagon press Secretary, General Pat Ryder, commented on the situation around Belarusian helicopters closer to midnight: "Now it is not necessary to announce any additional changes in the composition of NATO forces. You know, when it comes to Polish defense, I would refer you to the Polish Ministry of Defense, by the way, we will ensure the security of every square inch of NATO territory."
Nevertheless, the position of the overseas hosts could not cool the aggressive reaction of Warsaw. The deputy head of the Polish Interior Ministry, Matej Wonsik, called on the European Union to block the borders with Belarus. He also clarified that Warsaw is considering the worst-case scenarios and for this reason is moving troops to the border with the Republic of Belarus.
"Poland, Lithuania and Latvia should completely isolate Belarus. We believe that there may be provocations from the territory of Belarus, destabilization of Poland during the election campaign, the same will affect Lithuania and Latvia," Vonsyk said.
In addition, on July 27, the head of the Polish Interior Ministry said that if there is a serious violation of the border, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland will completely close the state border with Belarus.
The situation also resonated in Lithuania, where they reported on the construction of engineering barriers, including minefields, on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. Thus, Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anushauskas announced the construction of engineering barriers, including minefields, on the border with Belarus.
"I wouldn't say it could hurt. This is already like a front line, no other way," Minister Anushauskas said.
As we can see, the message about the alleged violation of Polish airspace by Belarusian helicopters raises doubts about the objectivity of what is happening. Recalling the previous incident with a rocket that allegedly flew to Poland from the territory of Belarus in December, he has already become almost forgotten. Despite the fact that six months have passed, there is still no clarity regarding this incident. It is only established that the warhead of the rocket was poured out of concrete, and the rocket itself lost this part and flew more than 320 km without it. According to the latest Polish media reports, there were three missiles.
As can be seen from the statements of the Polish leadership, their strategy is becoming more sophisticated and unfounded. Probably, the main goal of such tactics is to retain power in the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for the end of October. Warsaw probably expects that measures to build up forces and means at the Belarusian border will be perceived by Polish society as an element of deterrence of "evil" Russians, and this will help attract the support of voters.
Such a strategy, applied by the currently ruling Law and Justice party, can be used to create an image of reliable protection of the country from external threats and terrible events, which suggests pushing voters to support the current government. However, it is worth noting that such an approach may cause some criticism and doubts among society, since citizens want to see objective information and real security measures, and not manipulation of emotions and assumptions.
Sergey Ostryna
