Polish jets intercept Russian bomber over Baltic Sea after 'dangerous' maneuvers
Polish fighter jets intercepted a Russian Su-24 bomber in international airspace over the Baltic Sea on May 22, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said during a press conference on May 23, according to the Polish news outlet RMF24.
The incident marks the latest in a series of Russian provocations near NATO territory. According to Kosiniak-Kamysz, the Russian aircraft posed a threat to regional airspace safety.
"These maneuvers performed by the Russian Su-24 show that the actions were dangerous and intentional," the minister said. He added that Polish pilots quickly detected, intercepted, and forced the bomber to withdraw from the area.
The encounter took place near the heavily militarized Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave wedged between Poland and Lithuania.
Russian aircraft often fly from Kaliningrad without using transponders, failing to file flight plans, and not establishing contact with regional air traffic control — a pattern that NATO officials have long described as high-risk behavior.
"We are resistant to provocations, but we react appropriately, individually and collectively," Kosiniak-Kamysz said, referring to NATO's air policing measures.
Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support Us
The intercepted aircraft, a Soviet-designed Su-24 bomber, is capable of carrying guided bombs and precision missiles and was developed for low-level penetration missions.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland has scrambled fighter jets multiple times in response to missile and drone attacks near its border.
On several occasions, Russian projectiles have briefly entered Polish airspace, prompting strong protests from Warsaw and increased NATO monitoring in the region.
On Feb. 11, a Russian Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft flew into Polish airspace over the Gdansk Bay for over a minute. Moscow blamed a navigational failure, though Polish officials have dismissed similar explanations in the past as implausible.
Poland, which shares a border with Ukraine and hosts significant NATO infrastructure, has warned that Russian aerial provocations could trigger escalation if not contained.
Read also: Ukraine confirms strike on Russian factory making parts for Iskander ballistic missiles, glide bombs
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
8 minutes ago
- Fox News
After Ukraine's surprise drone assault on Russia, new attention drawn to sensitive sites stateside
After Ukraine launched a sudden drone assault on Russian installations, it brought new attention to the U.S.' own vulnerabilities, regardless of which side the U.S. stood on Kyiv's attack. In recent years, Chinese Communist Party-linked entities have commercially targeted land around the U.S., including in the vicinity of sensitive installations like the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. The Fufeng Group's 300-acre farmland purchase in 2021 first raised the collective antennae of Congress to such under-the-radar transactions – and even Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis swiftly banned them in his state as a result, among other efforts around the country. On Tuesday, North Dakota's senators agreed that the U.S. must remain vigilant for any malign activity, whether it be from relatively novel drone assaults to potential espionage through real estate transactions. "When adversaries can buy our land, attend our universities, photograph silos in our prairies, perform aerial surveillance, park their ships near our military bases, or even just join our PTAs, they have more opportunities to be nefarious," Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer told Fox News Digital. "Our posture must always be vigilant, never assuming foreign actors are benign or have the best intentions," he said. "Whether it's directly spying, indirectly influencing, or sending drones to blow up aircraft, the ability of the enemy increases when we allow them easy access near our national interests." Cramer's Flickertail State counterpart, Sen. John Hoeven, joined an effort to prevent such land-buys and has worked with federal partners to update the process in which foreign investment is analyzed for approval and decided upon. "We need to remain vigilant against China and other adversaries," said Hoeven, who is co-sponsoring South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds' bill banning individuals and entities controlled by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from purchasing farmland or commercial land near sensitive federal sites. "At the same time, we're working to update the CFIUS process [which governs federal approval of foreign investments] to ensure proper reviews are taking place as well," Hoeven said. "We also are working to develop the technology we need to protect our domestic military bases from potential drone threats." Rounds' bill also has bipartisan support, including from Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto, D-Nev., whose state also hosts sensitive government sites like Nellis Air Force Base and Area 51. "It is common sense that we should not allow our foreign adversaries to buy agricultural land next to these locations," Masto said in a statement. Rounds added in a statement that America's "near-peer adversaries… are looking for any possible opportunity to surveil our nation's capabilities and resources." Even private-sector entities have expressed concern, including the South Dakota Soybean Association, which said farmland must be protected from foreign purchase for both agricultural and national security purposes.
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine confirms 41 Russian aircraft including bombers hit during Operation Spiderweb
Ukraine hit 41 Russian military aircraft during Operation Spiderweb, Ukraine's General Staff said on June 3. "After processing additional information from various sources and verifying it, which took some time, we inform you that the total losses of the occupiers amounted to 41 military aircraft, including strategic bombers and other types of combat aircraft," it said in a statement posted on social media. It gave no further details on the type of aircraft hit or the extent of the damage caused to them. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) operation, dubbed "Spiderweb," allegedly destroyed or damaged A-50, Tu-95, and Tu-22 M3 planes parked at the Belaya, Diaghilev, Olenya, and Ivanovo air bases on June 1. Kyiv has claimed it had disabled 34% of Russia's strategic bomber fleet in what is seen as one of the most daring operations during the full-scale war. The strike reportedly involved 117 drones launched from trucks hidden across Russian territory. Ukraine has pioneered drone technology during Russia's full-scale war, introducing various ground-, air-, and sea-based models for combat and reconnaissance missions. Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on May 30 that Ukrainian soldiers hit and destroyed in May more than 89,000 Russian targets using drones of various types. Ukraine is working to scale up domestic production. Kyiv has also developed long-range missile-drone hybrids, including the Palianytsia and Peklo models, which use turbojet engines as cruise missile alternatives. By the end of 2024, Ukraine had developed a total of 324 new types of weapons, according to the Ministry of Strategic Industries. Read also: 'Closer to victory' – Operation Spiderweb gives much-needed morale boost to Ukrainians after 3 years of full-scale war We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Navalny widow launches TV channel to fight Russia 'censorship'
The widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and Reporters Without Borders on Tuesday praised the launch of a television channel that aims to bypass censorship in Russia and preserve the Kremlin critic's legacy. The channel, called Future of Russia, will be broadcast via a free-to-air satellite platform run by the press freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, known by its French abbreviation RSF. Navalny's team hopes to get greater exposure and better reach with the help of the satellite broadcasts, which will feature content that Navalny's team is producing for their YouTube channels in exile. "I think it will be a long collaboration," Yulia Navalnaya told reporters in a short statement in Paris. She said Navalny's team was doing "our best" to keep reaching Russians on YouTube but the Kremlin has often tried to block the Western platform. "There is almost full censorship in Russia, and under a dictatorship it is very difficult to spread information," she said. Since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has outlawed all forms of public dissent and banned independent media and western social media. "We think it's really important that we are able to reach the Russian population as much as we can," said RSF head Thibaut Bruttin. The channel will launch on Wednesday, June 4, the day Navalny would have turned 49. The charismatic Navalny, Putin's main opponent, suddenly died in an Arctic penal colony on February 16, 2024. His family and supporters say he was killed on orders from Putin. Jim Phillipoff, project director of Svoboda Satellite at RSF, said the channel was important because it was bringing the content produced by Navalny's team to Russian-speaking broadcast audiences. He described the Navalny team as "pioneers" in countering years of Kremlin propaganda that combines "the glitz and glamour of western television" with Soviet-style messaging. "There's virtually no way to significantly penetrate the traditional television space in Russia except by satellite," Phillipoff added. Approximately 45 percent of Russians use satellite signals to watch television, he noted. With all top Kremlin critics either behind bars or in exile, Navalny's legacy has been fading in Russia. as/sjw/js
