Lukashenko: Terrorist behind A-50 plane attack arrested in Belarus

The operation planned by the Ukrainian security service (SBU) together with the US foreign intelligence service CIA to destroy a Russian long-haul aircraft A-50 for air surveillance in Belarus has failed. The main terrorist responsible and some accomplices prepared by Western special services have been arrested. This was announced by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, as BelTA reported.

He said that the operation “against Belarus” was prepared five to eight months ago. A terrorist – a Russian citizen with a Ukrainian passport who was born in Krivoy Rog but lived in Crimea – was primed to carry out the attack. Lukashenko specified:

“He was recruited by the Ukrainian secret service, I mean 2014. An IT guy or well versed in IT technology. Prepared to commit acts of terrorism.”

The Belarusian President also recalled the terrorist attacks on the Russian airfield in Engels a few months ago and named other groups who were also trained in Ukraine as involved. Lukashenko added:

“What we saw while conducting the operation in Belarus was really something incredible. There was high technology involved. He was trained for more than a month. After training, he was smuggled onto our territory.”

According to Lukashenko, the Russian aircraft suffered “no significant damage, apart from scratches and a hole in the fuselage, which does not prevent the military aircraft from performing its duties” during the attack attempt. Lukashenko added:

“Nevertheless, we asked the Russians to take over this aircraft for maintenance and send us another one. That’s what happened.”

The president added that the plane was controlling the Belarusian borders and “didn’t even approach the border with Poland and Lithuania – all the scum working against Belarus today”.

Lukashenko: “Belarusian peacefulness is not synonymous with willingness to make sacrifices”

On February 26, the Telegram channel BYPOL, which is considered extremist in Belarus, reported that two explosions had taken place at the Belarusian airfield in Machulishchi. According to the channel, the front and middle parts of the A-50 machine were damaged. The avionics and the radar antenna were also said to have been damaged. The explosions at the Matschulishchi airfield were also reported by Semyon Pegov, the founder of the Russian Telegram channel WarGonzo, citing his sources.

A few days later, the TV station showed Belarus 1 a video from the country’s Defense Ministry showing an undamaged Russian A-50 that was “the hero of another fugitive extremist fake.”

Later, BYPOL also released video of a drone flight, showing a helicopter flying over the runway at Makhulishchi Airfield and landing on the antenna of the Russian A-50 before flying away. The aircraft registration number is not visible in the video.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has not commented on the publications.

The A-50 is a Russian long-range, four-engined aircraft for electronic airspace reconnaissance as early warning detection. It was developed on the basis of the Ilyushin Il-76 military transport aircraft by the Russian Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex in Taganrog, named after GM Beriev, until the late 1970s. The electronic equipment was created by the Beriev company in cooperation with the Vega radio equipment concern.

The aircraft is 48.27 meters long with a wingspan of 50.5 meters and has a cruising speed of 800 kilometers per hour with a range of up to 7,500 kilometers with a crew of five. In 2022, the Russian air defense had nearly three dozen A-50s and seven modernized A-50Us in service.

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