MINSK, February 21. /TASS/. The increased number of flights by military aircraft in the airspace of European countries has caused six intrusions into the Belarusian airspace from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland since August 2023, said Valery Revenko, head of the International Military Cooperation Department at the Belarusian Defense Ministry.

"The increased magnitude of intelligence activities, the growing intensity of operational and combat training activities of the armed forces of foreign countries are causing an increased number of violations of the state border of the Republic of Belarus in the airspace," he said at a briefing for foreign military envoys accredited in Minsk, the BelTA news agency reported. "Since August 2023, six such incidents were detected from the direction of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland."

According to Revenko, the Belarusian Defense Ministry reacts to such cases with as much restraint as possible, limiting itself to the scrambling of duty aircraft and diplomatic measures. In order to ensure border security, the armed forces continue to implement a set of measures to strengthen the protection of the state border both in the airspace and over land.

"Our troops are in constant readiness to repel any aggression," he said.

In early November, Revenko said, in connection with the violation of the border by a single-engine plane from Poland, that "Poland had committed five such incidents since the beginning of September.".