• The front and middle components of the aircraft, as well as the radar antenna, were damaged in the attack.
• Belarusian anti-government groups claimed responsibility.
• Russia and Belarus have established a combined military unit in Belarus and have conducted many drills there.

Belarusian anti-government groups claimed responsibility for a drone strike on a Russian A-50 surveillance plane at an airbase near Minsk on Sunday.

“Those were drones. The operation’s participants are Belarusians, “BYPOL’s commander, Aliaksandr Azarov, was quoted on the organization’s Telegram messaging app and the Belsat news channel in Poland.

“They are now safe, outside the country.”

There was no official confirmation from Russia or Belarus, and their defense ministries did not respond immediately to calls for comment.

Belsat is a Polish broadcaster that focuses on Belarusian news and has been labeled extreme by Minsk. BYPOL, which is made up of former law enforcement officers who back opposition candidates, has been labeled a terrorist organization.

According to Franak Viacorka, an assistant to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, it was the most successful act of sabotage since the beginning of 2022.

Damage

The front and middle components of the aircraft, as well as the radar antenna, were damaged in the attack on the Machulishchy air base near Minsk, according to BYPOL.

The Beriev A-50, codenamed Mainstay by NATO, is a Russian airborne early warning aircraft with airborne command and control capabilities and the ability to track up to 60 targets at once.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began a year ago, there have been multiple acts of sabotage in Belarus and Russian neighboring territories, particularly on the railway infrastructure.

Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko has not directly participated in Russia’s assault on Ukraine, but he has enabled its forces to utilize territory as a staging post since the invasion began a year ago.

Russia and Belarus have established a combined military unit in Belarus and have conducted many drills there. Many Russian airplanes as well as airborne early warning and control aircraft have been deployed to Belarus.

“I am proud of all Belarusians who continue to resist the Russian hybrid occupation of Belarus & fight for the freedom of Ukraine,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote on Twitter.

According to the Belarusian human rights organization Vyasna, a lady was imprisoned in Machulishchy on Monday, but the reason for her detention and her whereabouts remained unknown.

There was no word on whether the detention was related to the alleged airplane sabotage.

Detentions are prevalent in Belarus, even for minor offenses such as social media comments, especially after Lukashenko repressed huge pro-democracy protests in 2020 and imprisoned or forced all leading opposition members to leave overseas.

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