Poland / 2026-01-31-pl-1
/ date of the event
On the night of 31 January to 1 February 2026 military radar systems again registered balloon-like objects entering Polish airspace from the direction of Belarus; the Border Guard assessed them as probably smuggling balloons. The Operational Command of the Armed Forces wrote that the Belarusian side had made another attempt to probe and test the reaction of Poland's air defence systems, and that the flights were monitored and posed no threat. The statement gives neither the number of objects, nor the area of entry, nor any air traffic restriction that night. It was the second of three consecutive nights of balloon incursions, after the night of 30/31 January, when civil traffic over Podlaskie was restricted. Who physically launched the balloons has not been established.
suspected
Someone has named a perpetrator, but this is neither a court finding nor a formal attribution by a state.
Named party: the Belarusian side (per the Polish Operational Command)
C - official suspicion
Dowództwo Operacyjne Rodzajów Sił Zbrojnych / 2026-02-01 / carrying out the act
The Operational Command wrote that "the Belarusian side made another attempt to probe and test the reaction of Poland's air defence systems". That is a military command's assessment that the incursions were an act of the Belarusian state; the statement gives no basis for it, names no institution and does not settle who physically launched the smuggling balloons.
No casualties reported.
Polsat News (za komunikatem DORSZ na X i komunikatem Straży Granicznej) / 2026-02-01 / secondary source
supports: the record, that it happened, the date, the attribution
Associated Press / secondary source
supports: the record