Poland said on Friday (Oct 31) that its jets intercepted a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea for the third time this week.
The aircraft did not violate Polish airspace, the Operational Command of the Polish Army said, but as in previous incidents, it had no filed flight plan and its transponders were turned off.
“This is already the third such situation this week, confirming the increasing activity of Russian aviation in the Baltic region,” the army said.
Polish MiG-29 fighter aircraft had also intercepted a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea on Thursday in the second such incident this week, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
NATO EASTERN FLANK ON ALERT
The Polish Army Operational Command described the second incident on the social media platform X.
“On October 30, 2025, before 9.00 a.m., the on-duty pair of MiG-29 fighters of the (Polish) Air Force carried out another interception this week of a Russian Federation reconnaissance aircraft Il-20 conducting a flight over the Baltic Sea,” it said.
“The aircraft, flying in international airspace without a filed flight plan and with its transponder turned off, was intercepted, identified, and escorted out of the area of responsibility. There was no violation of Polish airspace.”
Poland’s army also said on Wednesday that Polish jets had intercepted a Russian aircraft flying a reconnaissance mission in international airspace over the Baltic Sea on Tuesday.
“Today MiG-29s intercepted a Russian reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said, describing it as just like the incident on Tuesday.
Countries on NATO’s eastern flank have been on high alert for potential airspace incursions since September, when three Russian military jets violated Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes, days after more than 20 Russian drones had entered Polish airspace.
