For the third consecutive day, Poland has scrambled fighter jets to escort a russian reconnaissance plane over the baltic sea. The incident occurred early on Friday in international airspace without violating polish territory. This highlights the increasing russian air activity in the region, according to the polish defense ministry.
On Friday, October 31, 2025, the polish defense detected a russian reconnaissance plane over the baltic sea around 09:00. The aircraft was flying with transponders turned off, making it invisible to other planes, and was in international airspace without a filed flight plan. Poland's fighter jets were scrambled per NATO procedures to escort the russian plane away, which did not violate polish airspace.
This marked the third similar incident that week. A nearly identical situation occurred on Thursday, and another on Tuesday. Poland's defense minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has confirmed these cases, involving russian reconnaissance planes operating over the baltic sea with transponders off and no flight plan.
The defense ministry stated: “This is already the third incident of this kind this week, confirming the increasing activity of russian air forces in the baltic sea area.”
Countries on NATO's eastern flank are on high alert following airspace violations in September. Then, three russian fighter jets violated Estonia's airspace for twelve minutes, and shortly before, over 20 russian drones entered polish airspace. These events have heightened tensions in the region.