WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus have been reported crossing into Polish airspace for a third night in a row. Polish authorities on Monday said the “hybrid incidents” were part of the threat to the country’s eastern border posed by Russia’s ally Belarus.
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Balloons used to smuggle cigarettes from Belarus have been reported crossing into Polish airspace for a third night in a row.
Polish authorities on Monday said the "hybrid incidents" were part of the threat to the country's eastern border posed by Russia's ally Belarus.
"The Belarusian side made another attempt at reconnaissance and checking the reaction of the Polish air defense systems," the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces wrote in a report on X into the the incidents from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1.
Armed forces spokesman Jacek Goryszewski said there were more balloon incidents in the first weeks of 2026 compared to the beginning of 2025. He said the increased frequency could be caused by a political decision in Minsk. or by smugglers adapting to stronger border defenses by Poland.
Poland's military said the recent incidents posed "no threat to the security of the Polish airspace". However, temporary restrictions for civil aviation were imposed on part of the airspace over the Podlaskie region bordering Belarus.
The Belarusian embassy in Warsaw did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Poland and the Baltic countries have accused Belarus and Russia of conducting a hybrid war against the West, whose elements include fomenting a migration crisis on the European Union's eastern border, sabotage and espionage as well as the use of balloons smuggling cigarettes.
Polish authorities are on high alert since Russian drones entered Polish airspace in September, while an explosion on a rail line carrying passenger trains in November was blamed on Moscow.
On Jan. 22, the Operational Command of the Polish Army reported "increased activity by small unmanned aerial vehicles operating over the Polish-Belarusian border" it had observed the previous night. At the time, Poland summoned the Belarusian envoy to Warsaw, arguing that "such incidents are part of the hybrid operations undertaken by the Belarusian side, aimed at destabilizing the security situation and testing the Polish airspace defense system."
"The charge d'affairs couldn't answer to us about the role of the Belarusian side in this, but we are doubting the fact that the Belarusian side has no knowledge or impact on such a number of these actions," Maciej Wewiór, a spokesman for the Polish Foreign Affairs Ministry, told the Polish Press Agency.
In December, Lithuania declared a national emergency over security risks posed by meteorological balloons sent from Belarus that had violated its airspace. The balloons had forced Lithuania to repeatedly shut down its main airport in Vilnius, stranding thousands of people.
Lithuanian authorities said the balloons were part of a "Belarusian hybrid attack" while Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko denounced Lithuania's move to close its border in response as a "mad scam" and part of a "hybrid war" against his country.
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