“Let them apologize”: Sikorsky reacted to the Russian Mi-8 in the skies over Poland
Радослав Сікорський/ Фото з відкритих джерел
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that Warsaw would not make a “big deal” about the violation of the country’s airspace by a Russian Mi-8 if Moscow admits the mistake and apologizes.
This was reported by Gazeta.pl, citing a statement by Sikorski after his speech at the UN Security Council in New York.
“If the Russian side says: ‘Sorry, the pilot made a mistake,’ then we will not make a big deal out of it. But the one who is guilty must admit his mistake,” the Polish minister said.
Sikorsky noted that similar incidents can occur between neighboring states, but responsibility for violations must be recognized.
At the same time, he commented on the possibility of shooting down Russian aircraft that violate Polish airspace. According to him, the decision in such cases is made by the military command.
If the military determines that the violation was intentional and the aircraft poses a threat to people or property, the Polish army must defend the country’s territory, Sikorski stressed.
The incident occurred on September 23. A Russian Mi-8 military helicopter flying from the Kaliningrad region violated Polish airspace north of Braniewo at 11:08 a.m. local time .
The helicopter flew approximately 300 meters deep into Polish territory and remained there for 42 seconds . It was tracked by Polish radar systems the entire time.
Due to the border violation, Poland scrambled fighter jets and brought relevant ground forces and assets to readiness. The Polish command said it viewed the incident as a possible Russian test of the readiness of the Polish air defense system.
As a reminder, on September 23, “Pryamiy” reported about the violation of Polish airspace by a Russian Mi-8 . Then the Polish military scrambled fighter jets.
Earlier, on September 18, Poland also scrambled fighter jets due to the Russian Federation’s massive attack on Ukraine . Due to the activity of military aviation, the operation of the Lublin and Rzeszow airports was temporarily suspended.
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