Belarus said on September 28 that a Polish helicopter violated its airspace, but Warsaw said none of its helicopters had crossed the border between the two countries.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said the aircraft crossed the border between Poland and Belarus at around 3:20 p.m. local time, traveling as far as 1.5 kilometers into Belarusian airspace, and then again at 4:22 p.m., “going 300 meters deep."
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, said the information was "confirmed by objective control data” and said it had scrambled military aircraft in response.
The ministry said it was gathering information about the incident and planned to prepare a joint note of protest with the Foreign Ministry to deliver to Poland.
Warsaw denied that any Polish helicopter crossed the border.
"We inform you that today's statement by the Belarusian side about the alleged crossing of the border by a Polish helicopter is false. This is confirmed by the records of flight control and the radar station -- no such event took place,” the operative headquarters of the Armed Forces of Poland said in a statement posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The statement emphasized that the Polish Army "invariably respects and complies with all provisions and rules regarding the inviolability of borders" and also notes that “information provided by the Belarusian regime’s media must always be approached with caution and prudence, as it is often an element of provocation and misinforms the public."
Tense relations between Poland and Belarus have been further strained by Russia's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Last month the Polish Defense Ministry said two Belarusian military helicopters that were conducting training exercises near the border violated Poland’s airspace.
The ministry said in a statement on August 1 that the charge d'affaires of Belarus would be summoned to the Polish Foreign Ministry to explain the circumstances of the incident.
The statement clarified that the helicopters crossed into Polish airspace at a very low altitude, making them difficult to detect. It said that is why the Polish military initially said that the helicopters had not violated the NATO country's airspace.
After the incident Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak ordered an increase in the number of soldiers on the border. He also allocated additional resources, including combat helicopters.
NATO was also notified about the incident.