Defense official warns of harsh reaction to possible airspace violations during elections

January 29, Pozirk. Belarus may be exposed to provocations, including in the airspace, during the 2024-255 election cycle, Deputy Air/Air Defense Commander Leanid Davidovič said in an interview broadcast by STV on Sunday evening.

Destabilizing the country from within is always cheaper than going to war head to head, he said, referring to Belarus’ “potential adversaries.”

“They are probing us and will continue to probe to assess our capabilities,” the he noted. “Perhaps, to provoke us into some action and to see our reaction in different situations. Should some civilian aircraft fly into our territory, we will certainly be forced to use weapons against it.”

In 1995, one year after Alaksandar Łukašenka won his first presidential race, his armed forces shot down a US balloon killing US pilots Alan Fraenckel, 55, and John Stuart-Jervis, 68.

The Gordon Bennett Cup organizers said Belarusian authorities had been informed about the Americans’ plans and had cleared them, along with four other American racers who were also planning to fly over Belarus in two other balloons.

Belarusian authorities said the balloon – registered in Germany as D-Caribbean — had strayed too close to a military airbase and missile-launch site and had failed to respond to radio calls or warning shots.

However, 17 years later an airplane, chartered by the Swedish advertising agency Studio Total, illegally entered the Belarusian airspace and flew undetected over the country to parachute several hundred teddy bears with notes carrying pro-democracy messages.