Belarusian partisans release video of their drone landing on Russian AWACS plane
The drone was able to land unhindered on the "saucer" of the Russian military aircraft A-50 (Photo:screenshot of the video / BYPOL — объединение силовиков Беларуси / YouTube)
Belarusian opposition initiative BYPOL published a video of their aerial reconnaissance drone landing on a Russian military AWACS plane at Belarus’ Machulishchi airfield, on March 2.
According to the project’s Telegram channel, Belarusian partisans have been conducting aerial reconnaissance for two weeks using civilian drones they bought online. During one of these operations, a drone flew into the territory of the supposedly guarded airfield, approached the Russian A-50U aircraft, and landed on its saucer-shaped radar section.
"So how did the much-hyped anti-drone weapons, which cost tens of millions of rubles of budget funds to develop and produce, prove themselves? The answer is obvious — they didn’t," the video description says.
On Feb. 26, explosions were heard at the Belarusian military airfield Machulishchi, which is used by the Russian Air Force. Early reports suggested an A-50U early warning and control aircraft was seriously damaged.
Besides A-50Us, Russian combat planes regularly take off from this airbase, directly participating in the war in Ukraine.
The head of the Belarusian opposition initiative BYPOL, Alexander Azarov, said that the explosions and damage to the plane were an act of sabotage organized by Belarusian partisans.
After the attack, Belarusian border guards stepped up security at border checkpoints.
According to the human rights organization Viasna, at least six people were detained after the explosion.
On March 2, monitoring group Belarusian Hajun reported that the A-50 had flown off to Russia, probably to the 25th Aviation Repair Plant in Taganrog.
Previously, BYPOL reported that the plane’s 3D radar station (locator) and the area around the antenna fairing of the satellite radio link in the front may have been damaged. According to the report, the attack was carried out using two drones carrying 200 grams of TNT equivalent explosives.
The only visible sign of damage to the plane on satellite images were black traces on the plane's radar antenna and a dark spot on its right wing.
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