Russian drones follow winding flight paths with many course changes when attacking Ukraine. Now a drone has strayed to the ally Belarus – and probably not for the first time.
According to Kiev military sources, a Russian combat drone flew over Ukraine into Belarus in an attack. Russia attacked Ukraine with five Iranian-made Shahed drones, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Four drones were shot down over the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. “The fifth one left Ukrainian airspace in the direction of the Gomel region in Belarus,” wrote Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk on his Telegram channel.
The Belarusian military blog Hajun Project, which is known to be reliable, confirmed the incident. According to the blog, the Russian drone flew for about three hours over Belarus, far to the north, to Vitebsk. Nothing is known about the end of the flight. The Belarusian military tracked the aircraft with a fighter jet and a helicopter.
According to Hajun, a Russian Shahed drone had already flown into Belarusian airspace from Ukraine on Thursday evening. A jet and a helicopter observed the flight. After about an hour, the drone flew back to Ukraine, into the exclusion zone around the destroyed Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The Ukrainian side did not provide any information about this incident. It was not mentioned in the Kyiv Air Force report on Friday morning.
Moscow’s closest ally
Belarus is Russia’s closest ally. Ruler Alexander Lukashenko has made his country available as a staging area against Ukraine. As far as is known, however, Belarusian troops have not intervened in the war. Nevertheless, Kiev and Minsk are nervous, especially since a joint maneuver with Chinese soldiers is currently taking place in Belarus. Both sides accuse each other of preparing provocations.
A Ukrainian drone attack set fire to a fuel depot in Tsimlyansk district in the southern Russian Rostov region overnight. Governor Vasily Golubev later announced that the fire had been extinguished.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
