Poland intercepts Russian spy plane over the Baltic

BarcelonaPoland has intercepted a Russian reconnaissance aircraft flying over the Baltic Sea, as reported this Monday by the Polish Minister of Defense, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz. The aircraft, an IL-20, was intercepted by Polish fighters at midday, 30 kilometers north of the coastal city of Leba, while it was flying without a registered flight plan and with its transponder off, an increasingly common practice that hides information such as the aircraft's code, flight altitude, or planned route. The head of defense clarified that there was no violation of Polish airspace over the Baltic Sea.

Monday's interception is the latest in a long list of Russian intrusions and threats over Polish airspace, which have been increasing in recent months. Between March and August, Polish authorities have intercepted Russian military aircraft – both spy planes and fighters – over the Baltic region and near the Polish coast on several occasions, mainly from the Kaliningrad base and often flying without the transponder active. In April, the Polish Deputy Minister of Defense, Cezary Tomczyk, had already warned of an immediate NATO response to security violations. In July, there were several interceptions over three consecutive days, as well as the violation of Polish airspace by a Russian cruise missile. But Moscow has not stopped sending aircraft close to Polish territory throughout August.

Poland is not the only EU state that has suffered what the Polish Minister of Defense has labeled as "Russian provocations". Estonia, Finland, Lithuania – bordering Russia – Romania and Sweden – which share a sea with it – have had to get used to these types of incidents in their territory since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. But this summer, another country has been added to the list of targets: Germany. On the night of August 4-5, a drone loaded with explosives impacted a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport, although it did not explode. This is one of the most direct sabotage attempts recorded so far at a key NATO logistics center and military support for Ukraine, although German authorities have not yet directly attributed it to Russia.

Since then, the German government has toughened its stance on Moscow. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned this Sunday that Berlin is finalizing a response to the attempted drone attack in Leipzig in coordination with European and NATO partners. And this Monday, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil stated that relations with Russia cannot "return to normal." "People are dying every day, we have just seen another escalation of attacks," he added.