World

Russia sends nuclear-capable bombers on patrol over Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pic by Alexei Nikolsky, Kremlin Pool Photo
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pic by Alexei Nikolsky, Kremlin Pool Photo Russian President Vladimir Putin. Pic by Alexei Nikolsky, Kremlin Pool Photo

Russia sent two nuclear-capable strategic bombers on a training mission over Belarus on Thursday in a show of Moscow’s support for its ally amid a dispute over migration at the Polish border.

The Belarusian defence ministry said two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers practised bombing runs at the Ruzhansky firing range in Belarus. As part of the joint training, Belarusian fighter jets simulated an intercept, the ministry said.

The missions marked the second time in two days that Russia has sent nuclear-capable bombers into the skies over Belarus.

A pair of Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers flew a similar patrol on Wednesday, and Belarusian air defence assets practised intercepting them.

Russia has strongly supported Belarus amid a tense standoff this week as thousands of migrants, most of them from the Middle East, gathered on the Belarusian side of the border with Poland in the hope of crossing into Western Europe.

The European Union has accused Belarus’ authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging illegal border crossings as a “hybrid attack” to retaliate against EU sanctions on his government for its crackdown on internal dissent after Mr Lukashenko’s disputed 2020 re-election.

Belarus denies the allegations but has said it will no longer stop refugees and migrants from trying to enter the EU.

The Belarusian defence ministry accused Poland on Thursday of an “unprecedented” military build-up on the border, saying that migration control did not warrant the concentration of 15,000 troops backed by tanks, air defence assets and other weapons.

“It looks more like forming a strike group of forces,” the ministry said, adding that the Polish military build-up had prompted Belarus to respond with actions “both independently and within the existing agreements with our strategic ally” – a reference to Russia.