Belarusian Army to Put Mi-35 Helos, S-400 ADS into Service

Belarus plans to put into service Mi-35 attack helicopters and S-400 air defense systems – both produced by Russia – “in the near future."

"In the near future, the issue is being worked out and the Mi-35 attack helicopter, as well as the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, will be put into service," Deputy Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic, Major General Dmitry Mikholap said on the air of the STV channel on Sunday.

Belarus remains Russia’s only military ally in Europe. On July 15, combat readiness drills for S-400 units in Belarus were announced by the defense ministry. "In compliance with the 2021/2022 training plan of the Air Force and Air Defense Troops, an exercise of alert air defense forces was held under the direction of the commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Troops… The commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Troops highly commended the operations of the teams of S-400 ADS that participated in the exercise… the military personnel of the joint [Belarus-Russia] combat training center participated for the first time,” the ministry’s press office said in a statement. “During the inspection, all the training targets were timely detected and notionally destroyed," it added.

The S-400’s deployment to Belarus in January 2022 has supported Russia’s war effort against Ukraine. The missile system can reportedly engage targets at Mach 14 speeds up to 400km away. It notably demonstrated its very long engagement range by shooting down a Ukrainian Su-27 from Belarusian territory. It remains uncertain whether Belarusian S-400 units have participated in the war in Ukraine, or whether those fired from Belarus were under the Russian military.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak thinks Russia wants Belarus to participate in the war. "Russia wants to drag Belarus into a war against Ukraine in order to fill its personnel shortages," Podolyak tweeted on Wednesday.

Miholap added that the Belarusian army took delivery of the latest Su-30SM simulators.