On February 26th a Belarusian partisan group, BYPOL, and opposition leaders claimed a Russian A-50 airborne early warning & control aircraft had been damaged in a UAV attack
Bellingcat has now obtained satellite imagery from after the alleged attack of the Machulishchy Airbase.
The .5m resolution imagery was captured on Feb 28th by @planet. It shows an aircraft with the same configuration as an A-50 with a dark mottled pattern on the wings.
But to assess the claims of BYOP, it is first important to compare the latest image with others captured earlier.
An aircraft matching the A-50 configuration was captured by @Planet in .5m resolution imagery on Feb 19th (left) and 3m resolution imagery on Feb 23rd (right) – both before the apparent attack.
Compared to the earlier Feb 19th image (right) there does appear to be a difference in the colour of the wings.
However, this might be snowfall on the surface of the aircraft and it is as yet not possible to verify the BYPOL claims.
We will continue to update this thread with more information as it becomes available.
Correction, BYPOL, not BYOP.
Maxar has also made imagery available, which provides a slightly higher resolution image of the aircraft.
Imagery from March 1st (right) shows the aircraft has moved from the position it was seen on Feb 28th (left)
March 1st imagery shows the aircraft has been moved a short distance away. It's unclear if that was under its own power.
BYPOL has released a clip of drone footage showing the lead up to the attack, promising more footage of the attack later. The position of the aircraft is consistent with February 28th satellite imagery
The drone flies in this direction towards the A50 parked at the airbase.
BYPOL has now posted the full video online. Importantly in the attached statement they only state the drone entered the airbase and landed on the A-50. It does not mention an attack or explosions. t.me/bypol/622
The translation of the statement posted along with the video on Telegram by BYPOL can be read below:
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