Pakhmelkin lays blame on spies for everything

• 11.07.2012, 9:18

The head of the Air and Air Defence Forces of Belarus commented on crossing the Belarusian border by Swedes.

The national Air and Air Defence forces did not record a violation of the Belarusian frontiers by a light aircraft, which was reported by media to have released teddy bears on July 4, Interfax Military News Agency learned from General Major Dzmitry Pakhmelkin, the commander of the Air and Air Defence Forces of Belarus.

“It was a 100% provocation against Belarus with the support from foreign secret services. Our Air and Air Defence Forces did not confirm intrusion into the country's airspace by an unknown aircraft,” Pakhmelkin said Wednesday.

The military official took part in a meeting of the coordination committee on air defence at the council of ministers of defence of the CIS countries held in a Kyrgyz resort town on lake Issyk Kul.

General Pakhmelkin noted “all information about this provocation was published on the website of the Ministry of Defence of Belarus”.

“As for the provocation started on July 5, I mean media reports about a flight of a light plane near the village of Ivyanets, the investigation has not been completed,” the general said.

He stressed the Air and Air Defence Forces would have taken measures to detain a civil aircraft if it had been detected over the territory of Belarus. “We would have used our planes or, in extreme case, helicopters to detain the intruder. Under our law, we have no right to fire for effect if a civil plane intrudes into Belarus's airspace,” the general specified.

He noted the Belarus defends its airspace in full compliance with the country's legislation.

The Belarusian media reported on July 4 that a light civil plane piloted by Swedish citizens intruded into Belarus's airspace from Lithuania and dropped teddy bears with freedom of speech leaflets over Minsk and Ivyanets (the Minsk region).