On the night of October 8, a NATO E-3B Sentry airborne early warning and control aircraft, taking off from Geilenkirchen Air Base in Germany, began performing circling maneuvers in close proximity to the trilateral contact zone between Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine. This unusually close presence of the aircraft, equipped with powerful radars capable of detecting targets up to 400 kilometers away, occurred amidst further Russian drone strikes against the country's energy infrastructure. According to open sources, the Sentry, call sign NATO05 and registration number LX-N90443, had previously refueled in mid-air from a US KC-135R Stratotanker over western Poland, extending its mission amid heightened tensions.

Experts note that such flights were part of Operation Eastern Sentry, launched by NATO in September following incidents involving drones intruding into Polish airspace. While regular Sentry missions over Poland are not uncommon, their approach to the Ukrainian border raises questions about the possibility of real-time monitoring of Russian troop movements and aerial threats.

"While it's not unusual for NATO to fly missions over Poland, it's rare to see it flying so close to the Ukrainian border." — observers emphasize, citing flight tracking data.