Alexander Shukhov - AviaPressPhoto
Moscow. February 8th. Interfax-AVN - Two Tu-22M3 long-range bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces conducted patrols in the airspace of Belarus, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"The duration of the flight was about 4 hours," the ministry said.
They said that this is the second such patrol in the airspace of Belarus this month.
"At some stages of the route, long-range aircraft were escorted by Su-35S fighters of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Su-30SM fighters of the Belarusian Air Force," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
They said that the Russian and Belarusian pilots successfully completed the task, they noted a high level of interaction between the crews during the joint flight.
"At present, all aircraft have returned to their base airfield," the military said.
On February 5, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that two Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers carried out patrols over Belarus and returned to Russia.
Tu-22M3 bombers, which belong to the Long-Range Aviation - the air component of the Russian nuclear triad - worked out joint tasks with the aviation and air defense forces of Belarus.
Russia and Belarus are checking the reaction forces of the Union State. According to the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexander Fomin, before February 9, it is planned to redeploy and create groupings of troops. From February 10 to February 20, joint exercises "Allied Resolve - 2022" will be held.
The Russian military announced the arrival in Belarus for the exercises of a number of units and subunits of the Eastern Military District with standard weapons. In addition, it was officially reported that the Russian long-range air defense system S-400 Triumph, the division of short-range air defense systems Pantsir-S, fourth-generation multirole fighters Su-35 and attack aircraft Su-25SM were relocated to Belarus for maneuvers.
The maneuvers are taking place against the backdrop of a crisis in relations between Russia and NATO. The United States, other NATO countries and Ukraine have spoken about the concentration of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border and the threat of a Russian invasion.
On January 30, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev said that Russia does not want to fight with Ukraine, there is no threat from Moscow.
Tu-22M3 is a long-range supersonic missile-carrying bomber (according to NATO codification: Backfire), designed to destroy sea and ground targets with guided missiles and aerial bombs.
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