Three Russian MiG-31Ks left Belarus for the Russian Federation

Three MiG-31K fighter jets took off from Belarus and are returning to Russia.

The Belarusian Gayun monitoring group reported this.

Besides, two Russian Su-30 fighter jets stationed at the airfield in Baranovichi flew out from Belarus today.

MiG-31Ks have been stationed in Belarus since December 13, 2022. It is reported that these are the aircraft with registration numbers RF-92215, RF-92445, and RF-95194.

Thus, according to the monitoring group, they stayed in Belarus for 113 days and, during this time, made 39 flights. The planes were based at the Machulishchy airfield (Minsk region).

This was the second deployment of this type of Russian combat aircraft in Belarus, which is designed to use the Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missile.

Prior to this, three such fighter jets arrived on October 16, 2022, and stayed in Belarus for 46 days.

In January, over the Molodechno area, a MiG-31К with a tail number RF-95194 caught fire to one of two engines, which was accompanied by a sound similar to an explosion. It was later reported that the sound was caused by the compressor stall after ignition.

The emergency caused the aircraft to urgently complete the flight and return to the Machulishchi airfield. According to the monitoring group, this is the second recent fire of an aircraft with a tail number RF-95194.

Less than a month prior, on December 25, the fighter jet caught fire when trying to take off from the airfield in Machulishchi.

MiG-31 is a Soviet and Russian two-seat supersonic high-altitude all-weather, long-range interceptor. The Russian Aerospace Forces are currently armed with the modernized MiG-31BM aircraft.

The Russians also converted several aircraft to carry the Kh-47m2 Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile. These aircraft were designated MiG-31K. They are capable of carrying one missile and hitting targets at a distance of up to 2,000 km. The dimensions and design of the Kinzhal missile are similar to the Iskander ballistic missile systems. The maximum declared speed of the missile is 10 M.