'Gifts For Lukashenka Only Starting'

Here's what experts think about the attack on the airfield in Machulishchy.

On February 26, there were several explosions at the Machulishchy military airfield, located near Minsk. Telegram channels write that at 9am, drones attacked a Russian A-50U airborne radar aircraft.

The two explosions damaged the front and centre of the plane, damaging the avionics and radar antenna. Belarusian partisans claimed responsibility for the attack on the plane.

The Charter97.org website took a look at what experts think about the attack.

Military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko called the strike on the Russian guided-missile aircraft "a new sinking of the Moskva cruiser."

"This is a very expensive machine. Its cost exceeds 300 million dollars. Secondly, given Russia's ability to produce such models, to some extent the damage or loss of this aircraft could be compared to the loss of a full corvette or frigate of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Even to some extent the loss of the Moskva missile cruiser".

Russian blogger El Murid also points out that the explosions at Machulishchy are not an ordinary event:

"Generally speaking, Belarus is seen as an ally of Russia, so military logic leads gradually to its inclusion in the course of ongoing hostilities.

For all the vagueness of the Machulishchy incident, new information comes in that the damaged aircraft may be an A-50 airborne radar aircraft. There are about a dozen of them in service, so the event is not an ordinary one."

Publicist Aleksandr Nevzorov believes that Moscow is "howling with rage" after such a strike:

"Everyone is terribly intrigued by the fact that right in Lukashenka's lair, one might say, under his arm - with two blows they shredded the most guarded and valuable A50 with airborne radar, belonging to the Russian Air Force. The operation was carried out boldly and brilliantly. Moscow howled with rage.

An investigation was immediately launched, and the first steps of the investigation led to ... the residence of the blue-fingered one.

No, he has nothing to do with it himself, but the version of Belarusian partisans, their patrons and hackers XXII is a priority".

Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, compared the attack in Machulishchy to a strike on Russia's Engels airfield:

"Lukashenka is just starting to receive gifts from the AFU and patriotic Belarusians. Remembering the Russian "Engels," the work of partisans and sabotage groups is becoming a big problem not only for Russia, but now for Belarus as well."

Anatol Kotau, a former employee of Lukashenka's administration, notes that the security forces are unable to protect the Belarusian dictator:

"Lukashenka simply has no control over the territory of Belarus. All the repression and mop-ups, which came to a new turn after 2020, have come to nothing. The security forces, clicking their heels and dashingly rounding up old ladies and students, are not fulfilling their real task - in this case, protection of Lukashenka.

It also proves that all his cronies are not as professional and all seeing as they report to him. One thing is reports in the folders, and another thing is the harsh reality".

International columnist Ivan Yakovina called the attack on the airfield "a victory for the AFU and the Belarusian allies":

"A destroyed or critically damaged aircraft is a unique flying radar. Each such aircraft costs ten times more than any transport aircraft, several times more than the most expensive strategic bomber like the Tu-160. So this aircraft, apart from maybe the presidential one, is the most expensive and the most technically complex."

"It is an air command and control center for aviation within a radius of 600-650 kilometres. That is, they could see all of our Ukraine, being on duty in the south of Belarus. And damage to such a machine is very serious; without such an aeroplane the rest of aviation is like without an eye. Therefore, I congratulate the Belarusian partisans for such a victory on the ground," says test pilot Oleksandr Likhoyed.

"There was an event in Machulishchy that the world press is writing about, and Lukashenka's regime has not been able to explain it to the public for 24 hours," summarized political analyst Aleksandr Fridman.

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