Polish residents reported the alleged crossing and posted photos and videos of it on social media. The Polish government claims to have already informed its allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) of the border crossing.
Blaszczak noted that Belarus' chargé d'affaires in Poland was "immediately summoned" to explain the situation, and that Warsaw had "issued a firm protest" against the incursion.
"The Polish side emphasized that the incident is perceived as another element of the escalation of tension on the Polish-Belarusian border," said the Foreign Ministry in a statement. "Poland expects Belarus to refrain from such activities."
The Armed Forces of Belarus denied any such violation of Polish territory, and accused Poland of inventing the accusation to justify a buildup of its troops on the border.
"This statement was not backed up by data from Poland," said the Belarusian Ministry of Defense in a statement disseminated through official Telegram channels. "The Belarusian Defense Ministry views it in the manner of an 'old wives' tale' and notes there were no border violations by Mi-8 and Mi-24 helicopters."
"Accusations of a violation of the Polish border by Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Forces are far-fetched and made by the Polish military and political leadership to justify the build-up of forces and means at the Belarusian border," the Defense Ministry added.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry also accused Warsaw of changing its mind about whether or not the incursion actually happened "apparently after consulting its overseas masters," referring to NATO and the United States.
Tensions between Belarus and Poland have been escalating in recent weeks. Russian President Vladimir Putin even claimed that Poland may be harboring territorial ambitions on Belarus, warning that any attack on its neighbor would be considered an attack on Moscow itself.
More recently, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki sounded the alarm after he claimed that a group of at least 100 Russian Wagner Group mercenaries had been stationed close to the Belarusian side of the border. In response, Poland began moving at least 1,000 of its own troops closer to its side of the border.
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