Belarus sentences 12 to up to 25 years for attack on Russian warplane

TALLINN, Estonia -- A Belarusian court on Friday convicted 12 people, most of them in absentia, and sentenced them to prison terms of up to 25 years for an attack on an airfield that damaged a Russian military radar plane.

The Beriev A-50 plane was hit by a drone attack at the Machulishchy airfield near the capital Minsk in February 2023. Russia stations troops and equipment in Belarus that are used in the war in neighboring Ukraine.

A Belarusian guerrilla group made up largely of former soldiers claimed responsibility for the attack.

The sentences were reported on the state news agency Belta. But the independent news site Mediazona reported that seven of those convicted were not in the country.

Four of the defendants were convicted for terrorism and sentenced to 15 to 25 years in prison. All are outside Belarus, Mediazona said. Others were sentenced on lesser charges to terms varying from two years and three months to 15 years.