A Russian military helicopter’s brief incursion into Polish airspace has intensified warnings across Europe about the need for governments and civilians to prepare for a potential conflict with Moscow.
A Russian Mi-8 crossed around 300 metres into Polish airspace near the town of Braniewo on Wednesday after flying from the heavily militarised Kaliningrad region, according to Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command.
The helicopter remained inside Polish territory for about 42 seconds before returning towards Russia. Polish radar tracked the aircraft and fighter jets were scrambled, while ground-based air-defence forces were placed on standby.
Poland said the incident may have been intended to test its defences, the Operation Command said: “The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is once again testing the readiness of our air defence.”
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The episode has added to a growing sense of unease in countries on NATO’s eastern flank, where officials are increasingly discussing not only military readiness but how civilians would respond to a serious security crisis.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said he had prepared supplies at home and knew where his nearest shelter was.
“I have stocks of rice, I have a hand pump at home, and I have also made preserves from fruit from my own garden,” he said.
“I have the safety instructions, and I have also thought through where the nearest place of shelter is. Everyone should also know how to apply a dressing. That is useful even in peacetime.”
Asked whether people should prepare emergency bags, Sikorski said citizens should listen when the state advises them to prepare for unsettled times.
“That is my appeal — to listen to it,” the Metro reported.
His comments came as Lithuania also stepped up preparations for a range of possible security scenarios involving Russia.
Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said authorities were developing evacuation plans, including arrangements to move vulnerable and elderly residents out of cities without creating the traffic gridlock that could obstruct an emergency response.
“We’re thinking about a variety of scenarios; not all of them are being discussed very much publicly,” he told the BBC.
“We face concrete threats, not on a daily basis, but we’re experiencing them, and it’s a true reality for us.”
Sinkevičius said Lithuania would resist any attack.
“If we are attacked, we will fight back. We will engage,” he said.
Lithuania’s concerns reflect its geography. The NATO member borders both Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, while recent drone incidents have added to concerns about airspace security and potential hybrid attacks.
The United States has also recently confirmed a new troop rotation into Lithuania, reinforcing Washington’s military commitment to the Baltic Nato member.
The latest Polish incident comes amid a wider series of confrontations involving Russian aircraft and drones along Nato’s eastern frontier. Polish authorities have said Russian activity around the alliance’s eastern flank has increased significantly, prompting additional measures to protect national airspace.
In Britain, the debate has increasingly focused on whether the public is prepared for the consequences of a major confrontation.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, Chief of the Defence Staff, has described the current period as the “most dangerous moment” of his 35-year military career, citing Russian aggression, conflict in the Middle East and the long-term erosion of British military capacity.
Historian Margaret MacMillan has warned that the risks facing western societies extend beyond a conventional military attack.
“It’s not the tanks you need to worry about,” she told the BBC.
“It’s the cutting of cables on the ocean floor. It’s the hacking into systems on which so many things depend. The possibility for asymmetric war, for cyber war, is growing by leaps and bounds.”
She added: “I think we have become used to the idea that peace is the normal state of affairs, that it’s going to last.
“So no, I don’t think we are psychologically prepared… but I do think that we are beginning to recognise that war is something that is closer to us than we’d like to think”.
Andrew Michta, a Polish-born American academic and professor of strategic studies at the Hamilton School, University of Florida, argued that Britain faced a particular challenge in preparing the public for a deteriorating security environment.
“The UK is also largely disarmed and, most importantly, mentally,” he said.
“There is no readiness for what’s happening because the policy elites are not addressing their public in a way that would honestly state the gravity of the situation.”
The latest warnings do not establish that a Russian attack on a NATO country is imminent. But they illustrate how the possibility of a wider confrontation is increasingly shaping defence planning, emergency preparations and public debate across Europe.
For countries closest to Russia, preparedness is no longer confined to military headquarters. Evacuation routes, emergency supplies, resilient infrastructure and public awareness are becoming part of a broader effort to ensure that societies can withstand a crisis without allowing disruption itself to become a weapon.
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