Belarusian balloons enter Polish airspace for third night

Polish military radar systems on Sunday night detected balloon-like objects entering Polish airspace from Belarus for the third night in a row. However, the scale of the Sunday night incursion was noticeably smaller than on previous nights, according to the Polish military. The balloons did not pose a threat to citizens, the military said. A fourth instance of balloons entering Poland also occurred early Wednesday morning.

Poland temporarily restricted its airspace in an eastern district bordering Belarus in response to the incursions. Belarus was attempting to test the capabilities and reaction of Polish air defense, the Polish military said. While the military constantly monitored the balloons, it did not mention any further response, such as shooting them down. The Belarusian government did not appear to have publicly commented on the incidents as of Monday morning.

Belarus is a close ally of Russia.

Have similar incidents occurred before? Armed forces spokesman Jacek Goryszewski said similar balloon incursions happened in 2025, but more had so far occurred in 2026 than in the first few weeks of last year, according to the Associated Press. Some previous instances of Belarusian balloon crossings likely came from smugglers attempting to get cigarettes and other materials over the Polish border, authorities said, according to Ukrainian news source Mezha.

Dig deeper: Read my report on the formation of President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which includes Belarus as a founding member.