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Poland reinforces Belarus border after helicopter incident
Summary
A look back at the airspace report that led Warsaw to send more soldiers to its eastern frontier, and at sanctions announced by London days earlier.
What prompted Poland to send more troops to its border with Belarus? By 2 August 2023, the answer had been reported a day earlier: Poland's Ministry of National Defence said two Belarusian helicopters, which were carrying out training exercises, had violated Polish airspace.
On 1 August 2023, Poland ordered an increase in the number of soldiers stationed near the frontier with Belarus following that report.
Sanctions in London
A related strand of regional tension appeared on 31 July 2023, when the United Kingdom imposed sanctions on judges and officials involved in the prosecution of activist Vladimir Kara-Murza. He had lost the appeal of his 25-year sentence for treason.
The two developments, reported within a day of each other, showed pressure building on Moscow and its ally Minsk from neighbouring and Western governments as August 2023 began.
