A military cargo was flown from China to Belarus.
The plane from China arrived in Belarus on January 8-11. Most likely, military cargo was delivered, as the planes landed in the VIP zone, which is used by the self-proclaimed president of the Republic of Belarus, Oleksandr Lukashenko. This was reported by the monitoring Telegram channel Belorussian Gayun.
“At the beginning of January… atypical activity of the Chinese cargo airline Air China Cargo was recorded at the Minsk National Airport. Within 4 days, the same Boeing 747-4FTF transport aircraft (registration number B-2476) made four flights in a row on the route Urumqi (ZWWW) — Minsk (UMMS),” the message reads.
The monitoring group believes that the Air China Cargo plane delivered military equipment to Belarus from China. They also assume that the cargo did not pass customs clearance and immediately left the airport, so as not to attract additional attention.
The message states that the flights took place on January 8, 9, 10 and 11. All flights arrived in Minsk at the same time – from 09:30 to 10:10 in the morning and stayed in Minsk for the same period of time, sufficient for unloading – 3 hours.
The Minsk airport has a transport and logistics center that handles cargo flights. All four times, after landing, the Air China Cargo Boeing 747 occupied parking lot 1A, which is reserved for the maintenance of government aircraft of Belarus, in particular, EW-001PA and EW-001PB of Alexander Lukashenko.
The VIP parking lot 1A is physically located at some distance from all the others, and to the right of the parking lot is the checkpoint for exiting the airport by the shortest route and without visiting the inspection points in the building.
Even last year, experts warned that China may try to find another option to support the Russian Federation. For example, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted at the beginning of March 2023 that Beijing and Moscow use Minsk as a placeholder for China’s assistance to Russia in circumventing Western sanctions.
Lukashenko and Xi Jinping signed sixteen documents, including the Belarusian-Chinese industrial development strategy, the document on Belarusian-Chinese scientific and technical cooperation for 2023-2024, and a memorandum of understanding on joint projects using Chinese state loans.
China, despite its objections, supplies Russia with weapons. In particular, drones, small arms and equipment. This, we will remind, was discussed in the report of the US Ministry of Defense in October 2023.
Russian customs data showed that both state-owned and private PRC companies sell civilian goods, dual-use goods and some minor military goods to Russia. These include small arms, spare parts, navigational equipment and protective equipment. It also noted that China’s large and unregulated drone market has allowed the Russians to purchase copters — small drones and dual-purpose UAVs — that the Russian military is using in its war against Ukraine.
There were already publications and statements about China’s military aid to fascist Russia. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, China has been sending helicopters, drones, sights and components for military production to the Russian Federation. For example, on August 9, 2023, it was discussed in an investigation by The Telegraph.
As journalists pointed out, Russian companies, including those under sanctions, engaged in the production of missile launchers, armored vehicles and strategic bombers, received tens of thousands of deliveries from China in the first quarter of this year.
“Chinese companies delivered to the Russian Federation 1,000 drones, six helicopters, optical sights, products made of titanium alloys for the production of weapons, as well as spare parts for aircraft, including military ones. Among the recipients of the goods were the Russian Guard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Rostec, the Tupolev company and other Russian structures,” the article said.