In Belarus, in the area of the Zyabrovka military airfield, not far from Gomel, explosions occurred on the night of August 11, local residents saw about eight outbreaks. The project “Belarusian Gayun” of the journalist and activist Anton Motolko, who is analyzing the movement of Russian troops across the territory of Belarus, was the first to report this.
In the morning, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus stated that the equipment caught fire after the engine was replaced. What kind of technology, the department did not specify.
“August 10, at about 23:00, during the control run of one of the vehicles after the replacement of the engine, it ignited. Fire extinguishing measures were taken by personnel in a timely manner. There were no casualties."
The project clarifies that the Ministry of Defense reported on holding joint exercises with Russia of the Air Defense Forces and the Air Force with live fire from August 9 to 25. Whether they are associated with outbreaks in the Zyabrovka area is unknown.
On July 12, Belaruski Gayun reported that for the first time since the massive spring shelling of the Kiev region, Russian troops had stepped up on the territory of Belarus near the northern border of Ukraine. According to Motolko, recently Russian military aircraft, which previously brought ammunition, have been actively transferred to the country, paratroopers and pilots are being trained, and ground forces are being relocated.
In the first days of the war in Ukraine, it became known about the use of the Zyabrovka military airfield by Russian troops: planes and helicopters took off from there, and missiles were also launched towards Ukraine. Even before the start of the war in Ukraine, on Feb. 11, US private company Maxar Technologies released satellite imagery showing a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine. Then on Zyabrovka they noticed the military, equipment and helicopters, less than 25 km from the border with Ukraine.