Multiple Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft, including four Su-34s, two Su-30SMs, and two Su-24Ms, along with several helicopters, landed at Lida Air Base in Belarus around 09:00 UTC on Friday, September 13th, 2025. The deployment is linked to the "West 2025" military exercise, with Lida Air Base situated approximately 40 kilometers from Lithuania's southern border. This activity occurs within a period of heightened regional aerial operations. Reports from September 6th to September 13th indicate increased training flights by the Belarusian Air Force, including combat sorties to intercept Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the country's south and west. Notably, on the night of September 9th to 10th, a Belarusian Air Force Su-30SM shot down a UAV whose flight path passed through Belarus during large-scale Russian UAV attacks on Ukraine and Poland. In parallel developments, Ukraine's Air Force reported on Friday, September 13th, that managed aviation bombs were deployed by hostile tactical aviation targeting the Kharkiv region within the current reporting window. Earlier in the window, managed aviation bombs were also reported targeting the Sumy region. These events follow wider regional air raid alerts across Ukraine, with threats of drone and ballistic missile attacks originating from Crimea. Poland had issued air raid warnings in its Lubelskie Voivodeship earlier on Friday due to aerial attack threats, and its Lublin Airport remained closed due to "unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security."
