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Russian plane blown up by Belarusian partisan group

A $350 million Russian plane has reportedly been blown up.

The A-50 surveillance aircraft was stationed in neighbouring Belarus which is where Russian troops, along with Belarusian soldiers, are mobilising seemingly to stage a new offensive against Ukraine from the north.

The aircraft was destroyed by a drone attack at an airfield near the capital Minsk. The Belarusian opposition in exile have described it as the most successful sabotage operation" in Belarus since the start of the conflict in Ukraine. Belarus, which is north of Ukraine, is a close ally of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and was one of the launching pads of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year.

Newsday spoke to Franak Viacorka, a Belarus politician and Chief Political Advisor to Sviatlana Tsihanouskaia the head of the Belarus opposition from Lithuania.

(Photo: Beriev A-50U AWACS of the Russian Air Force taking off, Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, Russia. Credit: Artem Alexandrovich)

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