+1 fake spread by the Ministry of Defense of Belarus.
The Belarusian MoD reported this morning that as part of the combat readiness inspection in the 61st Fighter Air Base, “the crew of an on-duty aircraft was taken to the sky on alert.”
Quote: “The crew of the on-duty Su-30SM aircraft performed a timely takeoff, occupied the airborne duty zone, and was further subject to the inspection of one of the tasks of the on-duty air defense forces.”
The news about the “alarming takeoff” was instantly spread by Belarusian and Russian media. However, the real circumstances of this takeoff differ from the press-release of the Belarusian MoD.
According to our information, there were no flights of Su-30SM fighters at Baranavichy airfield on June 26. Also, according to the previously established schedule, the rehearsal of the air part of the parade on July 3 was not held today.
However, one Su-30SM fighter can be seen in the photos published by the Defense Ministry. In total, the Belarusian Air Force has 4 such aircraft in service.
Judging by the shadow falling on the ground from the fighter, the photo was taken at around 11:00 at Baranavichy airfield. At the same time, the aircraft in the photo had no missile armament. This is how fighters fly to the rehearsal of the parade. But the aircraft on alert takes off with a set of missiles.
Thus, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus probably passed off yesterday’s flight of Su-30SM fighter (on June 25 at 11:00) to the parade rehearsal as an allegedly “combat” flight on alert today.
Why can we claim this? The combat readiness inspection began on June 21.
- On June 21- 22, flights of Su-30SM fighters of the Belarusian Air Force at Baranavichy airfield were recorded only in the evening.
- On June 23, no flights of fighters of the Belarusian Air Force were recorded at the airfield.
- On June 24 (from 12:00 to 12:30 and from 16:14 to 16:35) and June 25 (from 11:00 to 11:30 and from 15:00 to 15:30), all 4 Su-30SM of the Belarusian Air Force participated in rehearsals for the parade.
Information about the flights can be seen on our online map of military activity.
The inspection is so global and large-scale that the Defense Ministry has nothing to show to the public on the 6th day? Indeed, how long can we show a couple of Grad systems and a dozen of servicemen of the Special Operations Forces as serious activity within the inspection?
Perhaps that is why yesterday a decision was made to urgently change the situation. At first, the flight of one on-duty helicopter to Luninets was recognized as “activity”. And today – the flight of Su-30SM “on alert” without missiles (in fact, to a parade rehearsal).
It’s also possible that “as part of the inspection” Belarusian pilots simply planned to practice a new element – the Su-30SM ramming of a column of Ukrainian troops, allegedly concentrated near the border. Therefore, they decided not to waste precious missiles. Of course, we won’t know the whole truth.
As a result, we have +1 fake, spread by the Ministry of Defense of Belarus.
