Tense with the West, 2 Russian nuclear bombers roam the Belarusian skies

MINSK – Two bombers (bomber) nuclear Russia patrolling the sky Belarus on Saturday (18/12/2021). The pair’s mission was to underscore Moscow’s defense of its allies amid tensions with the West.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said two Tu-22M3 aircraft flew a four-hour mission to train to perform joint duties with the Belarusian Air Force and air defense.

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quote AP, Sunday (19/12/2021), a pair bomber it was escorted by Belarusian Su-30 fighter jets, which Moscow had previously.

This patrol of Russian bombers marks the third mission since last month.

The patrol flights come amid Western concerns over a buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine raising fears of an invasion. Moscow has denied plans for such an attack, but has urged the West to provide security guarantees that would exclude NATO’s expansion into Ukraine and the deployment of the alliance’s weapons there, demands the US and its allies almost certainly refuse.

Several Ukrainian officials have raised concerns that Russia may be using its ally’s territory; Belarus, to attack Kiev.

Moscow strongly supports Belarus amid a tense standoff last month when thousands of migrants and refugees, mostly from the Middle East, flocked to the Belarusian side of the border with Poland in hopes of crossing into Western Europe.

The EU accuses authoritarian Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of encouraging illegal border crossings as a “hybrid attack” to retaliate for EU sanctions against his government for its crackdown on internal dissent following Lukashenko’s re-election in the disputed 2020 elections.

Amid tensions with the West, Lukashenko said last month that his country would be ready to host Russia’s nuclear weapons.

He declined to specify what types of Russian weapons Belarus would host, but noted that the ex-Soviet country had carefully maintained the necessary military infrastructure since Soviet times.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described Lukashenko’s offer as a “serious warning prompted by reckless Western policies.”

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