Belarusian fighter jets shot down Shahed drone over their country

29 August, 2024 Shahed-136 kamikaze drone. Illustration photo The Belarusian Air Force intercepted a Russian Shahed kamikaze drone over its territory.

The Belaruski Gayun monitoring group reported on this. According to their information, during another missile attack on Ukraine, a Russian kamikaze drone flew into the airspace of the Republic of Belarus in the Yelsk district. The incident occurred at 03:30 a.m. local time.

A schematic representation of the interception of a Russian Shahed kamikaze drone.

Photo credits: Belaruski Gayun monitoring group

They also note that after entering the airspace of Belarus, the drone stayed there for about 20 minutes. During this time, fighter jets of the Belarusian Air Force escorted the UAV and at 03:55 a.m., according to eyewitnesses, shot it down. Local residents say that before the downing, there were at least two explosions, followed by a bright flash in the sky.

This is likely to be the first recorded case of Belarusian Air Force fighter jets destroying a real military target in the sky.

Illustrative photo of the Su-30SM of the 61st Fighter Air Base of the Belarusian Air Force. Photo from open sources

This is not the first time Belarusian combat aircraft have taken to the skies to escort Russian kamikaze drones. During one of the missile attacks on the territory of Ukraine in late August 2024, Belarusian fighter jets intercepted and escorted a Russian drone, which then left the airspace of Belarus.

The first kamikaze drone entered Belarusian airspace at around 11:20 p.m. near the village of Asarevichy.

After the event, most drones immediately went deeper into the Polesie State Radioecological Reserve and back to Ukraine.

Still, one flew over 260 km across Belarus to the city of Stolin, Brest region.