59 weather probes with contraband and GPS flew into Poland. Inspection of systems is not ruled out – RMF 24
A weather probe (Illustrative photo: Polish Border Guard Headquarters)

About 59 balloons carrying contraband and GPS tracking systems flew into Poland from Belarus. It is possible that this could be a test of the Polish air defense response, transmits RMF 24.

On December 26, police and border guards found 13 balloons loaded with cigarettes and five packages. Each of them contained about 1500 packs of cigarettes. They also found GPS location devices in the weather balloons.

Most of the smuggling was detected in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, with four more cases recorded in the Lubelskie Voivodeship.

According to RMF 24, the operational services do not rule out that the launch of weather probes is a possible test of the response of Polish airborne object detection systems.

There have been cases where balloons have risen to an altitude of up to 9,000 meters, which put an additional strain on surveillance and detection systems. In the Lubelskie Voivodeship, one of these weather balloons caused a power outage in some areas.

  • on November 24, Lithuania complained about the strongest attack weather probes in November, which led to the airport being closed twice. It was decided to allow to whip balloons.
  • december 9 Lithuania introduced a state of emergency across the country due to attacks by weather probes from Belarus. The day before was thwarted several flights in the country.
  • on December 26, Lithuanian airports preliminarily estimated damage from balloons from Belarus in the amount of 200,000 euros.