Poland condemns “provocation” after Russian jet manoeuvres close to Polish aircraft over Black Sea

Polish and Romanian authorities have condemned a “provocation” after a Polish unarmed aircraft patrolling the EU border over the Black Sea was approached by a Russian jet “performing aggressive and dangerous manoeuvres” on Friday.

The incident took place during a Romanian-led operation by the European Union’s border agency, Frontex. The Polish border guard aircraft – Turbolet L-410 – was approached three times by a Russian SU 35 fighter jet, resulting in the loss of control over the aircraft by the Polish crew.

The Frontex executive director, Hans Leijtens, expressed his concerns over the safety of the crew, adding that the agency is “assessing [its] patrolling plans”.

According to the Polish border guard, the Russian fighter jet flew right in front of the Polish plane’s bow, crossing its flight path at a distance of about five metres. After the third approach, the Russian fighter aircraft moved away.

The incident, which happened around 60 km east of Romania’s airspace, “resulted in high turbulence for the Polish border guard aircraft. The five-person border guard crew lost control of the aircraft and lost altitude,” the Polish border guard reported on Sunday.

The pilots managed to land safely, but the incident led to the suspension of the crew’s flights under Multipurpose Maritime Operation Western Black Sea 2023, a mission coordinated by Frontex, Poland’s border guard spokeswoman, Anna Michalska, told Polish Radio news agency IAR, adding that the crew have remained in Romania.

According to Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller, the “behaviour on the part of the Russian military should be seen in the category of provocation.”

“Unfortunately we will encounter such provocations,” he added, commenting on the event on the state-owned TVPInfo channel. Russia “is not doing as well as it would like on the Russian-Ukrainian front, so it is looking for some kind of ‘success’ for its own propaganda,” he claimed.

The Romanian defence ministry is also treating the incident as “further evidence of the provocative approach of the Russian Federation in the Black Sea,” the ministry said in a statement.

The mission in which the current crew of Turbolet L-410 has been participating since May is a joint operation hosted by Romania and coordinated by Frontex. Other Polish crews previously participated in the mission.

Other countries participating in the mission include Spain and Sweden as well as the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). While the current operation is set to last until mid-December this year, similar missions have been carried out yearly since 2019.

Main image credit: Polish Border Guard

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.