There seems to be no way for Polish Air Force plane to have been qualifying to Russian military airport rules. Even a military plane - it is not part of Russian Defense Ministry , how to say, planes and system. They are military alright - but not ours, and local Defense ministry rules are not for them. I don't know how is it , say, with Kazakhstan military planes? are there any? As they seem to be part of a small local military block here. Do they fall in our system, when visiting, I mean, can a military airport here command them to turn around?
No idea. I am sure though, many NATO country leaders arrive to Russia by own military planes, but to big int'l airports here, say, in Moscow or St. Petersburg, and I guess are dealt with there by rules of civil aviation, int'l ones. A Polish plane, part of NATO, can not arrive here in the capacity of "military" :o) Either as a civil aviation flight, or is it a raid on us? :o) on a war mission? :o)
Point 2 from me is still a bad feeling; either they should have minded all the rules, all organisers and those who carried out the flight, or then have agreed I don't know, somehow, that it is all very private and nobody minds any rules! In this case the Russian air controller would have shouted them to stop being suicidal and in strong expressions, and this would have given the Captain additional weight in refusing his passengers to land. Like, he would have said "not only me thinks this is un-wise, but the Russky shout here to go to a back-up airport, see?" That captain was nice and had difficulty saying "No", a help from the ground to him, an additional opinion, expressed in BIG NO unequivocal terms like "we tell you again - NO CONDITIONS FOR LANDING - CONFIRM YOUR UNDERSTOOD!" would be the most timely thing needed.
As it is now it is one side flies to sure death while our Russian side looks at it all in cool nerve and without expressive comments, like "crash if you wish". Naturally both sides feel kind of idiots after.
It is as in the old saying "For my friends - all, for the enemy - the law."
Here the Poles got "the law". But as they aren't enemies as a Russian I badly wish they got a violation of those rules. A big friendly shout violating whatever.