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Russian A-50 AWACS aircraft redeployed to Belarus

MINSK, March 15, 18:04 /ITAR-TASS/. A Russian A-50 AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft has been redeployed to the Belarusian airfield Baranovichi (western Brest region) to take part in the second stage of the exercise aimed at evaluating the combat readiness of the joint Belarusian-Russian regional air defence system, the Belarusian Defence Ministry said on Saturday, March 15.

The ministry said that Air Force and air defence troops involved in the exercise had gone on combat duty as scheduled. “The air defence forces on duty were tested by control target flights performed by Belarusian Air Force and air defence aircraft,” the ministry said.

Earlier this week, six Russian SU-27 aircraft and three military transport planes were redeployed to Belarus. Also, a squadron of Russian jet fighters has been on combat duty in Belarus since December 2013.

At a meeting of the Belarusian Security Council on March 12, President Alexander Lukashenko offered to host an additional 15 Russian planes in the country in response to stepped up NATO activities on the Belarusian border.