Human rights activists report arrest of gunmen in Belarus
Belarusian human rights activists became aware of the arrest of sports shooters in Minsk. As reported on Tuesday, March 7, the human rights center “Vesna”, among those detained – a participant in several republican shooting championships. The reason for the detention is unknown, but relatives believe it may be related to the sabotage in Machulishchi, according to the Vesna Telegram channel.
According to the publication “Nasha Niva”, in a few days, the Belarusian state security authorities have already detained dozens of representatives of shooting clubs, airsoft players and reenactors, they are “actively interrogated for knowledge” of a man named “Yakutik”. “We don’t know the details of the mass attacks. The signals are contradictory and without special details”, notes Nasha Niva. At the same time, the publication knows that some of the detainees were released from the KGB a few days later under a confidentiality agreement.
Lukashenka announced the arrest of a “terrorist” involved in the attack on the A-50 plane in Machulishchi
The ruler of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said on March 7 at the state awards ceremony that police officers detained more than 20 people on suspicion of blowing up a Russian A-50 reconnaissance aircraft at Machulishchi airfield. According to Lukashenka, the main suspect, detained near the village of Borovlyany near Minsk, was a native of Krivoy Rog and living in Crimea with citizenship of Russia and Ukraine, who was “recruited by the special services of Ukraine”. Lukashenka claims the sabotage was carried out by a specially trained Ukrainian “terrorist” equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
Confirming the fact of the attack on the AWACS aircraft, Lukashenka said that the aircraft received minor damage, and nevertheless, the A-50 was sent to Russia “for service”, and another aircraft was sent to Belarus.
Explosions at the Belarusian military airfield in Machulishchi, near Minsk, occurred in the morning of 26 February. The association of former Belarusian security officials BYPOL reported that as a result of the sabotage, a Russian A-50 military early warning and control aircraft (AWACS), used to guide missiles against targets in Ukraine, was seriously damaged. According to BYPOL, the explosions damaged the front and middle sections of the A-50, as well as the radar antenna, and the activists involved in the attack managed to leave Belarus.
According to the Belarus Gayun group, the AWACS A-50U aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces with registration number RF-50608 arrived in Belarus on January 3, 2023. For 54 days he made 12 sorties. Its previous arrival on Belarusian territory was recorded on February 24, 2022. In total, the Russian Aerospace Forces have 9 such aircraft, of which 6 are improved, activists write.
Source: DW
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