The exiled Belarusian opposition said on Sunday that a Russian intelligence-gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance and command aircraft had been destroyed at an airport near Minsk in what it called “the most successful sabotage operation” in the country since the start of the war in Ukraine.

“Insurgents (…) have confirmed the success of a special operation to blow up a Russian rare-of-a-kind aircraft at Machulitsa Airport, near Minsk,” Franak Viakorka, an adviser and close associate of Svetlana Tsykhanovskaya, her most prominent figure, said on Twitter. Belarusian opposition.

According to Mr. Viakorkas, “the operation was conducted by two Belarusians” using UAVs. “They have already left the country and are safe,” he added.

He did not explicitly mention the type of aircraft that was destroyed, but emphasized that its cost is 330 million euros and uploaded a photo that does not leave much doubt. According to media close to the opposition, it was a Soviet-designed A-50.

“I am proud of all Belarusians who continue to resist the hybrid Russian occupation of Belarus and fight for the freedom of Ukraine,” Ms. Tsykhanovskaya said on Twitter.

These statements by the leaders of the Belarusian opposition in exile are impossible to independently verify. The Russian military has not reacted to the information about the destruction of the flying radar.

Belarus, Russia’s only ally in Europe in the war in Ukraine, is not directly involved in Russian operations, but allowed its territory to be used when the offensive began a year ago.

According to Kiev, Moscow is using Belarusian airfields to strike targets on Ukrainian territory.

Russia and Belarus have multiplied joint military high schools in recent months. The government of Ukraine expresses fears that Belarus will become actively involved in the conflict. Minsk says it will not engage in war unless attacked.