NATO member Poland sends troops to border after accusing pro-Putin Belarus of invading its airspace

On Tuesday, August 1, the news of former U.S. President Donald Trump's third criminal indictment was a major story not only in the United States, but all over the world — including Europe. But there were other important new stories as well, one of which was escalating tensions between Poland (a NATO member since 1999) and its neighbor Belarus (whose far-right authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko has been a major ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin).

Reuters reports that the Polish Defense Ministry has sent troops and combat helicopters to the Poland/Belarus border after alleging that Belarus violated its airspace. Poland also shares a border with Ukraine, and many Ukrainian refugees have fled Poland during the Russia/Ukraine conflict.

"The Belarusian military denied any such violation and accused Poland, a NATO member and one of Ukraine's most fervent backers in its conflict with Russia, of inventing the accusation to justify a buildup of its troops," Reuters, reporting from Warsaw, explains. "Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko had earlier taunted Poland over the presence of Russian Wagner mercenaries near their joint border."

READ MORE: Turkish president says Ukraine 'deserves to be in NATO': report

Reuters notes that Polish military officials "initially denied" that "any border violation had occurred but later, after consultations, said the intrusion took place 'at a very low height, hard to intercept by radar.'" And Belarus is now denying that any violations of Polish airspace occurred.

On Telegram, the Belarus Defense Ministry accused the Polish Defense Ministry of kowtowing to its "overseas masters" — presumably meaning the United States and the Biden Administration.

Reuters reports, "People living around the eastern Polish village of Białowieża, close to the Belarus border, shared accounts on social media of what they said were border violations before the (Polish) Defense Ministry issued its statement. Belarus allowed the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to use its territory as a launch pad for the Ukraine invasion, but Lukashenko has not committed his own troops to the war. The former Soviet state has a long history of animosity with Poland, as does Russia."

READ MORE: 'Russia's weakness is obvious' as mercenary forces takeover Russian city: Ukraine

Reuters' full report is available at this link.