Military expert: Europe conducting provocative reconnaissance flights

The military of a Baltic republic launched a "Penguin"-type reconnaissance drone near the borders of the Union State. The spy craft circled at an altitude of one kilometer near the settlement of Robežnieki, just a few kilometers from Belarus.

Such actions by the West indicate a desire to peer deep into our territory and provoke a response, according to military expert Anatoly Matviychuk, editor-in-chief of the Anna News agency.

He explains that by conducting reconnaissance flights, they are observing deployment areas and the engineering layout of the terrain. "Take the 'Oreshnik' systems, for instance; they have to be deployed somewhere, and launch sites need to be prepared. This is a form of preliminary, preemptive reconnaissance. There is also a second objective: to force Belarus's air defense forces and assets to at least go on alert—specifically, to activate their radar stations. Radar operation involves emitting electronic pulses toward the horizon and the zenith, signals that are picked up by reconnaissance assets. This makes it possible to determine the air defense system's combat readiness timings as well as its quantitative and qualitative characteristics. These are provocative reconnaissance flights."