Ukraine says Belarusian professionals go to Russia to restore aircraft for combat

August 20, BPN. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s main intelligence directorate says the Russian government has signed fixed-term contracts with the Belarusian Defense Ministry to repair and restore aircraft.

Workers of Baranavičy-based 558 Aircraft Repair Plant periodically travel to restore and put into operation aviation hardware at 121 Aircraft Repair Plant in Russia’s Kubinka, it said.

It continued by saying that they mostly work on MiG-29s and their modifications.

The available information indicates that the Belarusian Armed Forces’ specialists perform works to remove them from storage so that they can subsequently be used in the war against Ukraine, it added.

The plant in Baranavičy, Brest region, has been hit by Western sanctions.

On February 24, Russia started its full-scale war against Ukraine. Authorities in Minsk deny Belarusian army troops’ involvement in combat operations on the Russian side. However, Belarus allowed Russian troops and weapons to move freely through the country, use its airspace, refuel and store military equipment and attack Ukraine from its territory.

A 20,000-strong grouping of Russian forces crossed into Ukraine from Belarus at the outset of the war, Łukašenka told AFP in an interview on July 21.