Poland Restricts Air Traffic Near Ukraine and Belarus Borders Following Russian Drone Invasion

Poland has restricted air traffic along the border with Ukraine and Belarus for three months following the Russian drone invasion.

The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency (PAŻP) reported on this.

The restrictions were imposed for national security reasons at the request of the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces.

The restrictions will take effect on September 10 at 10:00 p.m. and will last until December 9 at 11:59 p.m. within the restricted access zone EP R129, which covers the eastern part of the country along the borders with Ukraine and Belarus.

The PAŻP emphasized that from sunset to sunrise, there is a complete flight ban in the zone, except for military aircraft.

During daylight hours, the ban does not apply to:

• Manned aircraft that have filed a flight plan, are equipped with a functioning transponder (modes A, C, or S), and maintain continuous communication with the controller;
• Military aircraft;
• Flights with the special codes GARDA or ALPHA SCRAMBLE;
• Aircraft with HEAD, STATE, SAR, HOSP, MEDEVAC, FFR status.

In addition, there is a round-the-clock ban on civilian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the EP R129 zone.

On the night of September 10, Russian drones entered Polish airspace.

Following this, intercepts were carried out by the aviation forces of Poland and NATO countries.

The first violation of Polish airspace was recorded around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Warsaw time, and the last one around 06:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning.

According to available information, over 20 Russian drones entered Poland through the territories of Belarus and Ukraine.

By the afternoon, drones and their fragments started to be discovered in various parts of the country. One of them fell on the territory of a Territorial Defense military unit in Grójec County, near Warsaw.