Belarusian border guards detained a man with a homemade drone on the border with Lithuania.

The State Border Committee of Belarus claimed that the man was working with a drone in the Hrodna region.

“Lida border guards detained a local resident a few kilometers from the Lithuanian border while checking out operational information,” the statement reads.

The man was carrying a handmade unmanned aerial vehicle with two batteries.

The drone and its components were seized and delivered to the Lida border guard detachment.

Administrative proceedings have been initiated against the detainee.

Belarus prohibits the import, storage, circulation, operation, and manufacture of drones and the use of airspace without proper authorization.

Also, the storage and use of drones in the border zone or border strip is a violation of the border regime.

Border guards did not say what the seized drone was used for. The drone could likely have been used by smugglers.

In the country, only organizations and individual entrepreneurs have the right to own drones “for the purpose of their business and professional activities.”

In addition, to import drones into Belarus, these categories of persons must obtain a permit from the Aviation Department of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, which organizes the registration of drones in the country.

At the same time, Ukrainian intelligence services manage to smuggle drones into Belarus and use them to target Russian military facilities. In 2023, one of the drones damaged a Russian A-50 aircraft.