Poland announced on Tuesday that it was deploying troops to its eastern border accusing Belarus of violating its airspace with military helicopters.
In response, the Belarusian military denied the accusations and pointed fingers at NATO member Poland, which strongly supports Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, claiming that Poland fabricated the incident to justify a troop buildup, reported Reuters.
Earlier, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko taunted Poland regarding the presence of Russian Wagner mercenaries near their shared border.
Poland’s Defence Ministry confirmed the deployment of “additional forces and resources, including combat helicopters,” and informed NATO about the border violation. They also summoned Belarus’ charge d’affaires for an explanation.
Initially, the Polish military denied the border violation but later acknowledged that the intrusion occurred at a low altitude, making it difficult to detect with radar.
Belarus’ defence ministry criticised Poland’s claims, stating that they were unsupported by data and attributed it to external influence.
Residents near the Polish city of Bialowieza, close to the Belarus border, shared accounts on social media of alleged border violations before the Polish defence ministry issued its statement.
Belarus and Poland have a history of animosity, and last month, Belarus allowed Wagner fighters to train its army after an abortive mutiny against the Kremlin.
Belarusian President Lukashenko jokingly stated that Poland should be grateful to him for keeping the Wagner fighters in check, as they could have caused damage to Polish cities without Belarus’ intervention.
Poland’s Prime Minister had previously expressed concern about a group of Wagner fighters moving closer to the Belarusian city of Grodno near the Polish border, describing the situation as increasingly dangerous.
With inputs from agencies
Via Firstpost World Latest News https://ift.tt/e9uPpYS
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