Russian fighter jets in Belarus: Military parade near Polish border

Russia has sent fighter jets and combat helicopters to Belarusian military airports. Several MiG-29 and Su-35 fighter jets from the Russian Aerospace Forces have already flown from Moscow to Belarus. According to official reports, the equipment is to participate in the military parade on 3rd July.

The appearance of Russian machines in Belarus was reported by the monitoring group "Belarusian Hajun". This citizen team, established before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 by activist Anton Motolko, stated that earlier, 11 Russian combat helicopters arrived at the Machulishchy military airport near Minsk, and a Russian Su-35 attack aircraft landed at Lida airport.

The Belarusian Ministry of Defence claims that Russian aeroplanes and helicopters will participate in the military parade in the early days of July, on the so-called "Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus," established by Alexander Lukashenko.

According to TVP INFO, the July celebration on 3rd July replaces the previous Belarusian Independence Day on 25th August. Previously, this date, related to 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union, was recognised as the moment of achieving independence for the Belarusian nation.

However, dictator Alexander Lukashenko banned the celebration of the declaration of Belarus' independence from the USSR and restored the Soviet holiday on 3rd July, when German troops withdrew from Minsk in 1944. On this day, units of the Belarusian armed forces and the Russian army march together through the streets of the Belarusian capital.

This will also be the case this year; only the celebrations will be held in Brest. Preparations for the parade are ongoing. On Tuesday, 11 MiG-29 and Su-35 fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces arrived from the Kubinka airfield in Russia to Baranovichi airport.

According to "Belarusian Hajun," the aeroplanes are part of the Russian Aerospace Forces' Vitiazi (Su-35) and Strizhi (MiG-29) acrobatic groups. The military parade on July 3rd will be an opportunity to present even more machines.

There will be at least several dozen of them. According to sources, many Russian airplanes have already gathered on the territory of Belarus.

The list of machines involved in the parade on 3rd July includes equipment from the Russian Aerospace Forces, moved in recent days from Russia to Belarus. This includes one Su-25 attack aircraft, now stationed at the Lida airfield, and several dozen fighter jets - 5 MiG-29s, 6 Su-35s, and 4 Su-30SMs, parked at Baranovichi airport.

At Machulishchy airport, 11 Russian helicopters await the 3rd July celebration. Of these, five are Mi-28s, five are Ka-52s, and one is an Mi-26.

The July parade for Victory Day will be a show of strength. It will be held in the Belarusian city of Brest, near the Polish border.

Military equipment will pass through the city, and 450 soldiers will march, with military aeroplanes, including Russian ones, appearing in the air.

In previous years, such celebrations took place in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Moving this display to Brest is a message to the West.