Putin’s BFF Belarus shoots down killer drones that violated its airspace

Russian ally Belarus on Thursday said it destroyed several drones overnight after they violated the country’s airspace.
Reports from Belarusian military observers suggested the drones were Iranian-designed Shaheds, which Russia has repeatedly unleashed on Ukraine since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The drones were reportedly shot down in the Gomel region, near the Belarus-Ukraine border, according to the war-monitoring group Belarusian Hajun project. POLITICO could not independently confirm the reports.
The group said at least eight suicide drones of the “Shahed-type” entered Belarusian air space, with some returning to Ukraine and others continuing into Belarus or disappearing.
One drone was reportedly shot down by a Russian air defense system based in Belarus, while another was hit by Belarusian fighter jets, according to the group.
Belarus’ Ministry of Defense confirmed the downing of several drones, but did not say where they came from or where they were shot down.
“Timely actions by the air defense forces on duty destroyed all the intruding targets,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.
Belarus’s Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said last month that its air defense forces destroyed several Ukrainian drones that had violated Belarusian airspace.
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said the latest drone episode demonstrated the widening reach of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.
Belarus has not sent troops into Ukraine but allows Russia to use its territory for its war aims.
“The war is increasingly felt as these incursions happen more often,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote on X. “Even the regime’s propaganda can’t hide it anymore. The war is creeping into Belarus & we must stop it.”