Russian drone blamed for heat outage in Mazyr last week

March 3, Pozirk. A Russian drone hit a high-voltage power line and caused a large-scale heat outage in the Homiel region’s Mazyr on February 27-28, Flagshtok reported, citing local sources.

A malfunctioning of an automatic safety system led to an emergency shutdown of neighboring high-voltage lines, powering down the thermal power plant, it said. The plant resumed operations after several restart attempts that damaged the main water pipeline in several places.

The incident stands out as the first confirmed case of damage to the Belarusian energy system by drones. Drone incursions into Belarus have been regularly reported since mid-2024 yet officials do not comment on the incidents.

The state-run media and the energy ministry’s Telegram channel reported the successful completion of repair works at the damaged pipeline in the early hours of February 28 without disclosing any further details.

Last week, a flying object, presumably a drone, crashed and exploded on a farm building in the Homiel region, causing a fire. The incident took place near the Ziabraŭka village a few kilometers north of a military air base used by Russians during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In September 2024, Belarusian air defenses downed several drones over Homiel. Later, Alaksandar Łukašenka admitted drone incursions and claimed that Belarusian military shoot down UAVs regardless of their Russian or Ukrainian origin.