The Belarusian Ministry of Defense stated that in the early hours of July 29, a drone flying over the capital of Belarus was intercepted and shot down. Local residents reported that the drone first crashed into an apartment building and then fell onto a parked car.
(Around 2 a.m. on July 29, 2025, an unidentified drone crashed in Minsk, Belarus. (Belarusian Ministry of Defense / Telegram))
The Belarusian Ministry of Defense stated that air defense forces detected the drone around 2 a.m. local time and launched an attack using electronic warfare systems. The drone crashed in the northwest of Minsk at 2:33 a.m. No casualties have been reported. Videos circulating online captured the buzzing sound of the drone, followed by a loud explosion and the sound of debris falling. Witnesses said police arrived at the scene more than 20 minutes after the explosion and quickly carried out cleanup operations.
The Belarusian Investigative Committee stated that the drone was equipped with a warhead containing TNT (trinitrotoluene) and multiple metal ball-shaped projectiles. Photos released by the Belarusian Ministry of Defense show the wreckage of the destroyed drone, but its model and origin were not specified. The ministry stated that additional airspace security measures had been implemented following the incident.
In September 2024, the Belarusian military confirmed that it had shot down a drone over its territory for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, multiple incidents have been reported of Belarus shooting down Russian drones.
The crash on July 29 marks the first time the Belarusian Ministry of Defense has described such an incident in the capital in such detail. On July 28, an unidentified drone entered Lithuanian airspace, suspected to have originated from Belarus. The incident has once again raised concerns about the security of Lithuanian airspace.
Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko has ruled Belarus since 1994 and remains a key ally of the Kremlin. At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, his regime allowed Russian troops and equipment to use Belarusian territory to launch attacks on Ukraine.