From 0410 to 1617 very large Soviet-era military transport planes sent from Russia (each with capacity for 245 soldiers) were tracked landing at a Belarus airport.
За 13 часов в Беларусь прилетели 6 военно-транспортных бортов ВКС РФ
За последние 13 часов в Беларусь на аэродром в Мачулищах прилетели шесть военно-транспортных самолетов Ил-76МД ВКС РФ.
Это борты с рег. номерами: RF-76745, RA-86900, RF-76549, RF-86898, RA-76763 и RF-76772. Они начали прилетать в Беларусь начиная с 4-х утра, а последний (RF-76772) приземлился в Мачулищах в 18:17 по минскому времени.
По нашей информации, все самолёты что-то привозят в Беларусь, но что именно — пока неизвестно. Нельзя исключать, что может идти как доставка техники, так и ротация/подвоз мобилизированных.
Если мы говорим о привозе в страну солдат ВС РФ, то речь может идти о максимум 1 470 солдатах, так как максимальная вместимость каждого из Ил-76МД — 245 человек.
Детальное расписание прилёта бортов на иллюстрации. Если вам известны какие-либо подробности — пишите в…
I think my favorite description of this plane is a 1960s truck for troop/equipment movements to remote/rural areas that also can fly.
They look like cowbirds landing to graze fields.
You may recall back in February that Belarus gave Putin access to its territory to start his latest invasion of Ukraine.
And you may also have noticed in the last days (with weather warming up significantly) Russia launched huge numbers of missiles and drones at Ukrainian civilians and their critical infrastructure.
“This war that you are waging, Russia, it is not with NATO, as your propagandists lie. It is not for historical reasons,” Zelensky said. “Your leader wants to show that he has the military behind him and that he is in front. But he is just hiding. He hides behind the military, behind missiles, behind the walls of his residences and palaces. He hides behind you and burns your country and your future. No one will ever forgive you for this terror,” he continued. “Ukraine will never forgive.”
Some analysts suggest Russian missile attacks increasingly include “deliberate provocation” by taking a path where they could only be intercepted by Ukraine over Belarusian territory.
Indeed, a Ukrainian interception missile path ended up with debris in Belarus.
If six flying trucks are meant to be a distraction, even as provocation, it’s unclear whether anything Russia does at this point could overcome Putin’s weakness.
Russia might have sent empty planes to Belarus, lacking any ability to divert its own overstretched troops; hoping a bunch of its old cowbirds will scare Ukraine into diverting theirs away from Russia to the Belarus border.
Belarus doesn’t allegedly pose much of a military threat however, since less than ten percent there support a war with Ukraine. If the dictator did attempt a fight, he’d probably need to keep all his troops at home to prevent flushing himself down a drain that Putin plumbed.