4 Shahed UAVs fly into Belarus, 7 more pass through – Belarusian monitoring group

Belaruski Hajun, an independent Belarusian military monitoring media outlet, claims that at least four Russian Shaheds flew into Belarus on the night of 16-17 October, and at least seven more had previously entered the country in transit; Belarus launched the Air Force's aircraft into the air.

Source: Belaruski Hajun on Telegram

Quote from Belaruski Hajun: "Last night, at least four Russian Shahed kamikaze drones flew into Belarus from Ukraine. The first of them flew over the village of Komaryn at around 23:34, followed by the next one at the same location at 23:43."

Details: Reports indicate that both Shaheds left the airspace of Belarus in a few minutes and flew towards Chornobyl (Ukraine).

Later, two more Russian drones flew into Belarus at around 00:35 near the settlement of Liubech and headed towards Prypiat, and then probably also flew to Ukraine. 

"However, Ukraine's Air Force reported in its daily report that two UAVs left Ukrainian airspace in the direction of Belarus, meaning they flew to Belarus. At the moment, it is unclear which UAVs they are referring to – the ones that flew in at 00:35 or some other UAVs," writes Belaruski Hajun.

A number of monitoring channels reported that between 19:28 and 20:50 on 16 October, at least 7 unidentified UAVs flew into Ukraine (Kyiv and Chernihiv oblasts) from Belarus.

Belaruski Hajun suggested that these drones were passing through Belarus in transit and were launched from Bryansk Oblast of Russia.

It is also reported that another Belarusian Air Force aircraft was spotted in the Gomel Oblast of Belarus – a fighter jet from Baranovichy took off at around 00:45 and then returned to its base by 2:00.

Why it matters: In the summer of 2024, Russian kamikaze drones have repeatedly been recorded flying into the territory of Belarus. This happened on 13 July, 16 July, 21 August and 27 August. The self-proclaimed authorities of Belarus have not commented on this.

Background:

• On the evening of 16 October, Russian forces launched several groups of attack drones towards Ukraine. An air-raid warning was issued in most oblasts.
• Air defence responded in the city of Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast. 
• The Russian troops attacked energy infrastructure facilities in Mykolaiv Oblast on the night of 16-17 October, leaving some customers without electricity.
• All Russian drones that attacked Kyiv on the night of 16-17 October were successfully destroyed, but an apartment building in the Desnianskyi district of the city of Kyiv has been damaged due to the attack.
• Later, Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian troops attacked Ukraine on the night of 17 October with 56 attack UAVs and drones of an unspecified type, as well as a Kh-59 air-to-surface missile. A total of 22 drones were destroyed, 27 disappeared from radar, and two headed towards Belarus. However, there were several hits on infrastructure objects in Ukraine.

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