MINSK, April 3. /TASS/. The defendants in the case of a terrorist attack against a Russian A-50 long-range airborne warning and control (AWACS) aircraft near Minsk may face capital punishment, Konstantin Bychek, deputy chief of the Belarusian State Security Committee’s (KGB) Investigative Directorate, said on Monday.

"Under part 9 of article 16 of the Belarusian Criminal Code, all members of the organized group are recognized as perpetrators, regardless of their role in the crime. Bearing this in mind, all the suspects have been charged with committing an act of terrorism by an organized group (part 3 of article 289 of the Criminal Code). These articles carry a punishment of up to the death penalty," he said in an interview with the ONT television channel, a fragment of which was posted on the ONT Telegram channel.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on March 31 that Ukrainian national Nikolay Shvets and 30 his accomplices had been detained in Belarus following an attempted act of sabotage on a Russian A-50 long-range airborne warning and control (AWACS) aircraft at the Machulishchy airfield near Minsk. The plane sustained minor damage.