Reports online indicate that individuals in Belarus working against the war waged by Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukraine have at least partially blown up an apparently prized Russian warplane meant for radar and command. Franak Viačorka, who is involved with Belarusian political opposition, identified the plane as worth some $330 million Euros, which is around $348 million in current U.S. dollars.
“Aliaksandr Azarau, the head of Bypol, confirmed that Belarusian partisans were involved in explosions at the airfield in Machulishchy,” Belarusian journalist Hanna Liubakova said Sunday. According to information made available, the plane was crippled to the point of leaving it unable to be used. The organization Liubakova referenced is comprised of former security officers in Belarus who have united in opposition to the country’s current regime, which has supported Putin — a rarity, obviously — during the ongoing war.
Another Belarusian journalist, Tadeusz Giczan, shared other information about how exactly the plane was impacted. “Now this is big,” he said on Sunday. “Belarusian Partisans reportedly blew up a Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft at Machulishchy airfield near Minsk. According to the BYPOL initiative, the front and central parts of the plane, avionics and radar antenna were damaged.” One could easily imagine the incident as yet another impact to the credibility — whatever of it even remained among, say, the regime’s supporters — held by the Russian leader and his allies. Individuals inside Belarus executing similar sabotage efforts targeting the Russian war operation in Ukraine have also been active earlier in the conflict, and Belarusians have been among those from outside Ukraine joining that country’s military in its defense.
It’s been about a year since Russian troops launched the present war inside Ukraine, and throughout that period, Ukrainian forces have held back the Russian military from making key gains. President Joe Biden recently visited Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in another perceptible dent to the Putin regime’s attempts to assert itself. Biden and others in the U.S. have also restated their commitment to supporting Ukraine through the presently unfolding conflict. That support extends to at least some Republicans, like Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, who recently observed how the Ukrainian defense against Russia served the U.S. interest of bolstered global defenses against violence from the Russian government.
“We commit to intensifying our diplomatic, financial and military support for Ukraine, to increasing the costs to Russia and those supporting its war effort, and to continuing to counter the negative impacts of the war on the rest of the world, particularly on the most vulnerable people,” a recent joint statement from leaders in the G7 group of nations said. That list of countries includes the United States, meaning Biden was among the signatories. The military support is in the form of weapons of a wide variety of sorts that the U.S. and other countries have provided Ukraine.
#Belarus Aliaksandr Azarau, the head of Bypol, confirmed that Belarusian partisans were involved in explosions at the airfield in Machulishchy. The Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft has been damaged and "won't be able to fly," the initiative earlier reported. pic.twitter.com/aoaDEDClQN
— Hanna Liubakova (@HannaLiubakova) February 26, 2023
Now this is big. Belarusian Partisans reportedly blew up a Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft at Machulishchy airfield near Minsk. According to the BYPOL initiative, the front and central parts of the plane, avionics and radar antenna were damaged. pic.twitter.com/IGFAx00973
— Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) February 26, 2023
