Military activity on the territory of Belarus on September 16-22

Aviation activity, movements of the troops by rail and roads in Belarus.

Over the past week, the situation with the Belarusian Armed Forces deployed in Homiel region hasn’t changed dramatically. The first signs of the beginning of the rotation of some of the units redeployed to the border area with Ukraine in August appeared.

After the withdrawal of 4 Su-25 attack aircraft to Lida airfield, 2 Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft were redeployed to Babruisk airfield. During the week, the aircraft flew at least 4 times.

Flights of aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces were recorded. During the week, flights of Su-30 fighters were recorded twice at Baranavichy airfield. One transport and two passenger aircraft also arrived in Belarus.

Aviation activity

Aviation activity was recorded at Machulishchy, Lida, Baranavichy, Babruisk, Vosautsy, Ziabrauka airfields, etc. Flights of aircraft and helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force and Russian Aerospace Forces were recorded.

Belarusian Air Force

• On September 16-17 and 21-22, flights of fighters of the Belarusian Air Force from Baranavichy airfield were recorded in the southern and southeastern regions of Belarus.
• On September 16, a Mi-24 helicopter of the Belarusian Air Force flew from Machulishchy airfield to the area of Asipovichy, Babruisk, Stariya Darohi and Slutsk.
• Daily flights of Yak-130 combat trainer aircraft of the 116th Assault Air Base of the Belarusian Air Force were recorded at Babruisk airfield on September 17-20.
• On September 18, a Mi-8 helicopter of the Belarusian Air Force flew from Machulishchy airfield to Charatsianka (Zhytkavichy district). Then the helicopter flew to Ziabrauka airfield and then to Babruisk airfield. Later, the helicopter returned to Charatsianka via Ziabrauka airfield. On September 19, the helicopter didn’t fly anywhere. On September 20, the helicopter flew from Charatsianka to Ziabrauka airfield. After returning to Charatsianka, the helicopter flew to Machulishchy.
• On September 18, a Tu-134 passenger aircraft of the Belarusian Air Force flew from Machulishchy airfield to Russia.
• On September 20, a Mi-24 helicopter of the Belarusian Air Force flew from Machulishchy airfield to the area of Luninets.
• On September 20, an Il-76 military transport aircraft of the Belarusian Air Force flew from Machulishchy airfield to Mulino airfield (via Kubinka airfield). The aircraft transported servicemen of the 4th Separate Tank Battalion of the 19th Mechanized Brigade of the Belarusian Armed Forces to the 333rd Combat Training Center (Mulino training ground, Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia).
• On September 22, a Mi-24 helicopter of the Belarusian Air Force flew from Machulishchy airfield to the southeast of Belarus via Babruisk airfield.

Russian Aerospace Forces

• On September 16, an An-12 military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces arrived at Baranavichy airfield from Russia. On September 17, the aircraft flew to Levashovo airfield (Russia).On September 17, an An-148 passenger aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces flew from Moscow to Machulishchy airfield. The aircraft delivered delegations to participate in a meeting of the Coordination Committee for Air Defense under the Council of Defense Ministers of the CIS member states.
• On September 18 and 19, flights of Su-30 fighters of the Russian Aerospace Forces were recorded at Baranavichy airfield.
• On September 19, an An-148 passenger aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces arrived at Machulishchy airfield from Moscow. And on September 21, a Tu-154 passenger aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces arrived at Machulishchy airfield from Moscow. The aircraft was probably carrying a delegation of the Russian Armed Forces headed by Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Fradkov to Minsk.

Railroad activity

• On September 18, a military cargo train of the Belarusian Armed Forces was moving from Mazyr station to Pkhou station (towards Kalinkavichy). It consisted of: about 15 flatcars with tracked vehicles and 1 passenger car.

Movements by road

• No movements of the Russian Armed Forces were recorded.
• Single vehicles and small convoys (up to 10 pieces) of the Belarusian Armed Forces were spotted in Minsk, Biaroza, Yelsk, Mazyr district, and on some sections of the М1, М5, М9, R13, R28, R31, N4103, and others highways.

Separately, we should note the following:

• On September 16, a convoy of equipment of the Belarusian Armed Forces was moving along the M5 highway (Asipovichy – Bayary, Babruisk district): Tor-M2K SAM system, MAZ (KUNG).

General conclusion on current situation

The situation with the Belarusian group deployed in Homiel region hasn’t changed dramatically. As of September 23, the number of the group can still be estimated at ≈1600 people people. This is the minimum confirmed number of troops. The number of redeployed units will be updated as new information becomes available.

According to clarified information, on September 11, two Yak-130 combat trainer aircrafts of the 116th Assault Air Base of the Belarusian Air Force were redeployed to Babruisk airfield after the withdrawal of four Su-25 attack aircraft to the permanent base airfield. During the week, the aircraft flew several times.

In the report on military activity for September 9-15, we wrote about the probable rotation of the units of the Belarusian Armed Forces redeployed to Homiel region in early October. As noted above, on September 18, a military cargo train with equipment of the Belarusian Armed Forces was seen between Mazyr and Kalinkavichy. The composition of the military cargo train is similar to the one that arrived at Kozenki station (Mazyr) on August 11. We recall that at that time the military cargo train was transporting the 355th Separate Tank Battalion of the 120th Mechanized Brigade (military unit 25853).

Currently, there is no information where the mentioned military cargo train eventually headed: towards Zhlobin or Homiel. In general, movements of the military cargo train on September 18 may be a sign of:

1) the beginning of rotation of units of the Belarusian Armed Forces in Homiel region;

2) the beginning of the withdrawal of some units of the Belarusian Armed Forces from the border area with Ukraine to the permanent deployment points.

The information requires clarification.