Moscow. January 5th. INTERFAX - Russian and Belarusian fighter jets conducted a new patrol of the state border of Belarus, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.
"Belarusian and Russian pilots conducted the first joint patrol of the air borders of the Union State in the new year on multi-purpose Su-30SM fighters," the republic's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The Ministry's telegram channel published footage of the air patrol.
It is noted that the pilots were in the air for 120 minutes and during the patrol the aviators overcame more than 1,150 kilometers.
The previous time the Ministry of Defense of Belarus reported on joint patrolling of the Belarusian border on December 29, 2021.
Earlier in December and November, Russian and Belarusian fighter jets repeatedly patrolled the state border of Belarus.
On December 18, it was reported that two Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers conducted patrols over Belarus, which worked out joint tasks with aviation and air defense forces of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus. Then the duration of the Tu-22M3 flight was about four hours, the Russian military department reported.
Russia is fulfilling a contract for the supply of multi-purpose fighters of the "4+" generation Su-30SM to Belarus. Belarus plans to receive a second batch of aircraft in October 2022, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic reported on February 5.
On November 11, Russia sent two Tu-160 strategic missile bombers to Belarus. They conducted patrols in the airspace of Belarus together with Su-30SM fighters of this country. The Tu-160 is capable of carrying nuclear weapons and is part of the air component of the Russian nuclear triad.
On November 10, two Russian Tu-22M3 long-range bombers conducted patrols over Belarus, which, according to the Russian military, participated in checking the air defense system.
In November, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that Minsk would like to receive several divisions of Iskander-M tactical missile systems from Russia in order to install them in the western and southern directions.
Earlier, Minsk announced its desire to buy long-range S-400 Triumph air defense systems from Russia.
On October 6, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that two air Force and air defense training centers are being created in Belarus for joint training of specialists. Several Russian-Belarusian combat training centers are being created on the territory of the Russian Federation.