This week, this was already the second such incident, which, according to Warsaw, aims to test NATO readiness.
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Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz reported that two Polish F-16 fighters on duty intercepted a Russian Il-20M aircraft northwest of the city of Koszalin on the Baltic Sea coast before noon on Tuesday.
The aircraft remained in international airspace and did not enter Polish territory, a Ministry of Defense press spokesman Janusz Sejmej told the Polish state news agency PAP.
W. Kosiniak-Kamysz called this flight another Russian provocation near NATO borders.
“Russia is again carrying out provocative actions near the borders of NATO member states, testing the Alliance’s defense systems’ alertness and readiness,” he wrote on the social network X.
The Il-20M is a military reconnaissance aircraft used to collect intelligence on radars, communications, and air defense systems.
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This is already the second interception case this week involving the Russian Il-20.
On Monday, Polish fighters intercepted another Il-20 about 60 kilometers northwest of the city of Łeba on the Baltic Sea coast. That aircraft flew without a filed flight plan and with its transponder turned off.
Last Friday, a Russian Il-20 was also intercepted over the Baltic Sea, and in mid-July, Polish fighters detected several Russian reconnaissance aircraft and Su-30 fighters in this region.
Russian military aircraft regularly fly over the Baltic Sea without turning on transponders or filing flight plans, making them impossible to identify remotely, which complicates the work of civilian flight controllers.
Experts say this practice allows Moscow to test NATO response times and air defense systems while increasing pressure on civilian and military aviation throughout the Baltic region.
