Belarus launches first jet to destroy Russian drone – report

Belarus reportedly deployed an aircraft to repel an attack by a Russian drone that entered its airspace.

“For the first time in Belarus, aircraft were used to shoot down a Shahed drone,” said the Belarusian Hajun Project, an open-source intelligence service that monitors the military activities of Russian and Belarusian troops in Belarus.

Russia has used Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as “kamikaze drones,” to attack Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and energy supplies. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is Putin’s closest ally. Although the Russian president has avoided directly involving Minsk in the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Belarusian territory has been used for attacks.

The Hajun Project said the Iranian drone entered Belarusian airspace in the Homiel (Gomel) region at around 3:30 a.m., triggering the deployment of a Belarusian Air Force fighter jet.

Less than half an hour later, at least two explosions were heard in the Yelsk district “and a bright flash was seen in the sky,” said the post on X, formerly Twitter.

“This is probably the first recorded case of a Belarusian Air Force fighter aircraft attempting to destroy a real military target in the sky,” the Hajun Project added alongside a map of the area.

When asked for further information, a spokesperson for the Hajun Project said: Newsweek Although there are no further details about the drone yet, Minsk has “been sending planes to control drones flying to Belarus for some time, so the use of aircraft for the Belarusian Air Force in recent months is nothing unusual.”

“But today was the first time it was actually shot down,” the project added.

The newspaper had previously reported that the 61st Fighter Aviation Base at the Belarusian Baranovichi airfield reported increased surveillance of the airspace along the border of the southern operational direction with Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jets.

Newsweek has asked the Belarusian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Defense Ministry for a statement.

A former adviser to Ukrainian Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko wrote on X: “Belarus has for the first time shot down a Russian Shahed drone on its territory with the help of aviation.”

The pro-Ukrainian X-account Saint Javelin posted: “The Belarusian Air Force used fighter jets to shoot down Russian Shahed drones that entered their airspace. Lukashenka (Alexander Lukashenko) will get a call from Putin.”

Belarusian President Lukashenko is Putin’s closest ally. Although the Russian president has avoided directly involving Minsk in the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Belarusian territory has been used for attacks.

This week, Kyiv warned Minsk about the buildup of its military in the Gomel region, about 50 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, which has been in the area for three weeks, and vowed a response if Belarusian forces breach the border.

However, the Belarusian opposition and military analysts said Lukashenko’s forces were unlikely to pose an immediate threat to Ukraine in the short term and that the move served political rather than military purposes.

The Belarusian people and soldiers “do not want to have any part in Putin’s bloody war,” said Franak Viačorka, a senior adviser to Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who ran against Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, which is widely viewed as fraudulent.

He told Newsweek on Tuesday that the Belarusian president “has lost touch with reality and knows that involving Belarus in this fight could be the final nail in his coffin.”

“The country is already a powder keg and this could trigger an explosion that will bring him down,” Viačorka said. “Even his own military is more interested in cheering on Ukraine than fighting for Russia.”

Update 08/29/24, 5:00 AM ET: This article has been updated with additional information and comments from the Hajun Project and Franak Viačorka.