Polish authorities reported on Sunday that what was initially believed to be a breach of national airspace from Belarus was, in fact, caused by a large flock of birds, as reported by Reuters.
This misunderstanding led the military to deploy helicopters to investigate potential violations detected by radar systems, according to a spokesperson from the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces.
“The signals recorded by radar systems were not related to any breach of Polish airspace. They were caused by a large flock of birds, whose crossing was detected by airspace surveillance systems,” the Polish military later stated in a post on the platform X.
The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PANSA) also posted separately on X, announcing that Rzeszow Airport in southeastern Poland had resumed operations after briefly suspending them to accommodate military aviation.
Poland, much like Romania, has faced multiple incidents involving drones and airspace violations amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
On August 12, these incidents were discussed at the North Atlantic Council, where “allies reiterated that Russia bears full responsibility for airspace violations, which are dangerous and unacceptable, demonstrating Russia’s increasing risk tolerance,” according to a statement issued at the time.
