Belarus uses aviation to shoot down drones flying into Vitebsk region

Illustrative photo: Belarusian Air Force Su-25 attack aircraft. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Residents of the Vitebsk region have observed the work of attack aircraft shooting down drones flying over the region in recent days. Several readers told "Nasha Niva" about this.

People identified the aircraft as Su-25s. This attack aircraft is designed for both combating ground targets and shooting down slow-moving aerial objects. "Nasha Niva" does not have video or photos to verify this information.

In recent weeks, many drone incursions from Russia into Belarus and the border areas of the Baltics have been recorded. It is unclear whether these are Ukrainian drones that are knocked off course by Russian electronic warfare systems, or if Russia is deliberately launching drones disguised as Ukrainian ones to test NATO countries' reactions and maintain tension.

Several incidents have been publicly reported. In reality, there are likely dozens more. Belarusian authorities do not officially report anything, and local media are prohibited from writing about the incidents.

It is known that on May 17, a combat drone fell on Belarusian territory. It did not explode on its own; security forces detonated it on site. This happened south of Hlybokaye.

On May 18, a drone with explosives was neutralized in the Utena district of Lithuania — near the border with Belarus.

On May 23, a UAV fell near the village of Yanava, Senna district, damaging a power line upon impact.

The work of Belarusian aviation was observed in several districts of the Vitebsk region in the 20s of May.

On May 20, an air raid alert was announced in the Lithuanian capital and the eastern regions of the country. The country's leadership moved to shelters. Later, the commander of the Lithuanian Land Forces reported that Belarusian military personnel had warned the neighboring country about approaching aerial objects. The object or objects moved roughly along the border between the countries and disappeared from radars in the area approximately between Belarusian Voranava and Lithuanian Merkinė.

On May 21, two drones might have violated Lithuanian airspace. An air raid alert was announced in the Utena district on the border with Latvia and Belarus. The drones later disappeared from radars, their crash site is unknown.

On May 23, a combat drone fell into Lake Dridzis in Krāslava region, approximately 15 km from the Belarusian border, witnessed by local residents. Upon contact with water, it detonated, stunning fish in the lake. People were far away and not injured.

One version explaining why combat drones have been massively flying into Belarus in recent days is the activation of new powerful electronic warfare systems in western Russia. They act like a "magnet", shifting the drones' course further west. However, deliberate provocations by Moscow cannot be ruled out, aimed at escalating the conflict and creating a psychological background for a mass mobilization into the Russian army, which has recently suffered from a shortage of manpower.

State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus, Alexander Volfovich, accused Ukraine of violating airspace on May 26 in Moscow at a meeting of the CSTO Security Council Secretaries Committee.

"Daily, our air defense systems record regular crossings of the Belarus-Ukraine border by combat UAVs and their fall onto our territories. In some cases, these are not accidental attacks, but attempts to hit elements of border infrastructure, under the guise of allegedly accidental incursions. Only in the last week there were 116 such incidents. Duty forces were employed against them 59 times," said Alexander Volfovich. It is unknown whether the last sentence refers to shooting down or simply responding.

Press Secretary of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Andriy Demchenko called Alexander Volfovich's words absurd.

"Many absurd words about the situation in Ukraine and that daily they record regular crossings of the border from our state by combat UAVs using air defense systems. Only in the last week, they 'counted' 116. I have a question – how much did they have to restrain themselves to keep silent about such 'provocations' by Ukrainians? And besides, their air defense, apparently, can only detect Ukrainian assets, because what flies into Ukraine from Belarus, for some reason, they do not detect," said the representative of the Ukrainian border guards.

Civil defense instructions advise: if you observe an approaching drone or if an air raid alert is announced, take shelter in a bomb shelter, basement, or if that is not possible, in a windowless room or away from windows.

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