At Least 96 Russian Kamikaze Drones Entered Belarus in July

On the night of July 30, at least 26 Russian kamikaze drones were shot down in Belarusian airspace.

The publication Belsat reported on this.

In total, around a hundred such drones were recorded throughout July – the highest number observed to date.

Late in the evening of June 30, residents spotted three drones: one flew between Khoiniki and Narowlya, while the other two were flying over Brahin.

Later, five more drones were detected heading toward Brahin and then in the direction of Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region.

Three additional drones appeared over the Homel district, including one flying directly above Mozyr and another heard south of Homel. Activity was also observed in the Narovlya and Loyew areas.

According to the Flagstaff initiative, at least 96 Russian kamikaze drones were recorded in Belarus throughout July. This is an absolute record: the previous peak was in December, while from February to June the number of detected drones was several times lower.

For comparison, throughout the entire year of 2023, at least 145 Shahed drones were recorded in Belarus; of these, 109 disappeared from radar, and 36 crossed the border into Ukraine.

Separately, it was reported that on the evening of July 29, one of the drones had crashed on the outskirts of Minsk. Authorities confirmed the incident but stated that the drone had been of Ukrainian origin.

This version is met with skepticism, as eyewitnesses reported the drone had been flying from the direction of Russia. Activists from BELPOL noted that the engine noise had been heard in Astrashytski Haradok and Baravlyany – north of the Belarusian capital.