Russian Shahed drone explodes in the Gomel region, Belarus

One of the Russian Shahed drones launched into Ukraine exploded on the territory of Belarus.

Analysts from the Belaruski Gayun monitoring group said the incident occurred on Tuesday, July 16.

According to preliminary data, the Shahed loitering munition entered Belarusian airspace around 08:40 a.m.

It probably crashed in the Zhovtnevy district of the Gomel region.

According to analysts, the Shahed drone fell between the village of Parychi and the agricultural town of Lyuban in the Gomel region, 55 kilometers from the city of Bobruisk and 120 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

It is also reported that the drone exploded during the fall.

“This indicates that the Russian drones that fly into the territory of Belarus are not ‘training’ or ‘reconnaissance’ drones, but real ones with ammunition on board,” the analysts said.

The Russian Shahed drone entered the airspace of Belarus for the third time in the last week.

The previous incident occurred on the night of July 13. Back then, Russia attacked Ukraine with five drones, four of which were destroyed by Ukrainian air defense.

The fifth drone left Ukrainian airspace in the direction of the Gomel region of Belarus.

On the same day, another Shahed drone again flew into the territory of Belarus, reaching Vitebsk.

At 5:00 a.m., the Belarusian aircraft and air defense forces were alerted to intercept. A Mi-24 helicopter and a Su-30 fighter jet unsuccessfully patrolled the southeast of the Vitebsk region for an hour and a half.