Russian Su-24MR violated Polish airspace

12 February, 2025 Russian Aerospace Force Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft. Photo from open sources A Russian Su-24MR frontline reconnaissance aircraft violated Polish airspace in the eastern part of the Gulf of Gdansk.

The Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces reported on this. The aircraft, flying from the Kaliningrad area, violated Polish airspace at 14:09, entering at a distance of 6.5 kilometers, and stayed in it for 1 minute and 12 seconds. Radars of the Polish army tracked the movement of the reconnaissance aircraft in real-time.

Illustrative photo of a Russian Su-24MR.

Photo from open sources

Polish air traffic control services contacted the Russian side, which stated that the Su-24MR's "navigation system failure" caused the airspace violation. It is worth noting that the violation of Polish airspace could have been a deliberate action intended to provoke or reconnaissance. For example, the aircraft could have been carrying a SRS-14 Tangazh radar reconnaissance container designed to locate radar sources.

Thus, the Russians could have provoked the illumination of the plane by Polish radars and revealed their type and location. Russian Su-24MRs regularly fly over the Baltic Sea and come close to NATO airspace. On December 8, it was reported that F-35A fighter jets of the Royal Netherlands Air Force intercepted Russian Su-24MR, An-72, and Il-20.

A Dutch F-35A escorts a Russian Su-24MR.

Source: Dutch Ministry of Defense

Last June, it was reported that a Russian reconnaissance aircraft violated Swedish airspace east of the southern tip of the island of Gotland.

At the time, the Russians ignored a verbal warning and did not deviate from their flight route, and in response, Sweden raised its JAS-39 Gripen fighters to intercept the intruder.

Accompanied by Swedish fighter jets, the Russian Su-24 was forced to leave the airspace of the Scandinavian country.