BELARUS’S EXILED OPPOSITION have said that partisans were able to destroy a Russian plane at an airstrip near the capital Minsk.

It comes following a series of military operations in recent months which has seen Ukraine express fears that Minsk will enter the war on Russia’s side.

But according to news media close to the Belarusian opposition, an A-50 surveillance plane worth €330 million was destroyed by parisans.

“Partisans… confirmed a successful special operation to blow up a rare Russian plane at the airfield in Machulishchy near Minsk,” tweeted Franak Viacorka, a close adviser of opposition figurehead Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

“This is the most successful diversion since the beginning of 2022,” he added.

GLORY TO BELARUSIAN PARTISANS!

Partisans from the "Pieramoha" (Victory) plan confirmed a successful special operation to blow up a rare Russian plane at the airfield in Machulishchy near Minsk. This is the most successful diversion since the beginning of 2022. pic.twitter.com/4Q6UmmvylT

— Franak Viačorka (@franakviacorka) February 26, 2023

The two Belarusians who carried out the operation had used drones, he said, adding that they had already left the country and were safe.

Belarus, Russia’s only ally in Europe against Kyiv, has not taken a direct role in Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, but did allow territory to be used by Russian forces for their 2022 invasion. 

But Kyiv has maintained that Russia has used Belarusian air strips as a base from which to launch strikes on Ukraine.

“I am proud of all Belarusians who continue to resist the Russian hybrid occupation of Belarus & fight for the freedom of Ukraine,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote on Twitter in response to the news.

It was not possible to independently verify the reported operation and the Russian army has for the moment made no statement.

Strongman president Alexander Lukashenko has led a crackdown on critics who challenged his three-decade rule, including holding the trial in absentia of opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory in the 2020 presidential election, faces a litany of charges including high treason, “conspiracy to seize power” and creating and leading an extremist organisation.

The 40-year-old activist was forced during protests that followed the vote to leave Belarus for neighbouring Lithuania, an EU country .

 – © AFP 2023