According to information released by the Russian press agency TASS on February 18, 2022, Belarus may deploy Russian S-400 air defense launchers near Minsk, President Alexander Lukashenko said during an inspection of the Union Resolve joint exercise at Osipovichi range.
“We may deploy them somewhere east of Minsk or near Minsk and we will keep an eye on what is going on in Kyiv, beyond Warsaw, and so on,” he said. Belarus currently has one S-400 air defense missile system, which is being mastered by the Belarusian servicemen at a training center. “If necessary, we will deploy a couple more systems, although we don’t need more,” the president said.
According to Lukashenko, this is a weapon that covers at a distance of 600 kilometers.” “We are talking about purchasing several of these systems,” he specified. At the same time, the Belarusian leader added that available S-300 systems are sufficient for the national defense.
The S-400 Triumf is a mobile, surface-to-air defense missile system (SAM) designed and developed by the Russian defense industry. IThe SAM system is considered as one of the most modern and efficient long-range air defense missiles systems in the world. It can engage all types of aerial targets including aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and ballistic and cruise missiles within the range of 400km, at an altitude of up to 30km. The system can track 100 airborne targets and engage six of them simultaneously.