IRYNA BALACHUK — THURSDAY, 11 AUGUST 2022, 13:27
Belaruski Hajun, which monitors the movements of Russian military equipment within Belarus, showed a video of an explosion near the Zyabrovka airfield close to the Belarusian city of Gomel.
Source: Belaruski Hajun, an independent Belarusian military monitoring outlet, on Telegram; Zerkalo, an independent Belarusian news outlet
Quote: “A big flash is clearly visible; it does not resemble an ‘engine on fire’. It has been reported that flashes and explosions in the area of the Zyabrovka airfield began around 00:20 on 11 August; this in itself completely refutes the information provided by the Ministry of Defence of Belarus.”
Details: The video was reportedly shot on the night of 10 August at a distance of about 20-25 km from the airfield.
A total of at least eight flashes were recorded. Hajun emphasises that it has not yet been possible to link the flashes/explosions to any exercises being conducted by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus.
The publication Zerkalo attempted to seek clarifications from the press service of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and from the airfield itself. Zyabrovka airfield replied that “no one attacked anyone”, and the press service of the General Staff [Ukraine] said that they were unable to comment.
Belaruski Hajun noted that a unit of the Russian Armed Forces, with a large amount of equipment, is stationed at the airfield in Zyabrovka. The equipment included about 10 units of the S-400 Triumph air defence missile system, 2 units of the Pantsir anti-aircraft gun and missile system, an Iskander mobile short-range ballistic missile system as well as dug-in and camouflaged tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.
Journalists think that the explosions might have been caused by:
-
night training by the Air Force and Air Defence Force involving the discharge of weapons (however, the Ministry of Defence of Belarus does not corroborate this version),
-
the airfield might have been struck with the intention of destroying the anti-aircraft missile systems stationed there,
-
practice shooting down of UAVs using air defence (but journalists emphasise that the Ministry of Defence of Belarus is silent about this),
-
failure of an aircraft engine (but in Zyabrovka there are no aircraft that would produce such a massive explosion, and a helicopter failure would have been practically imperceptible).
Background:
-
On Wednesday night, reports appeared about the blasts heard and flashes seen near the Zyabrovka airfield, which is located near the city of Gomel in Belarus.
-
Subsequently, the Ministry of Defence of Belarus announced its official version of reports of explosions and flashes at the Zyabrovka military airfield, citing the alleged explosion of “one of the units of equipment”.
Journalists fight on their own frontline. Become our patron, support our work!
