Explosion heard in Belarus, Russian fighter jet's engine catches fire - Hajun

On January 19, residents of the Maladzyechna district, Minsk area, heard an explosion, which probably occurred due to the engine's ignition in a Russian fighter jet

The Belarusian Hajun monitoring group reported this.

It is noted that around 12:00 Minsk time, residents of Maladzyechna district, Minsk region, heard an explosion. According to eyewitnesses, windows shook in the city of Maladzyechna itself and in the suburbs.

According to Belarusian Hajun, at 10:59 Kyiv time (11:59 Minsk time), one of the two engines of the MiG-31K fighter of the Russian Aerospace Forces (RF-95194) caught fire over the Maladzyechna district. This was accompanied by the sound of an explosion. In fact, the monitoring group writes, this sound turned out to be the surge of the engine after ignition.

After that, MiG-31K PKS of the Russian Federation (RF-95194) was forced to end the flight and returned to the Machulishchy airfield. 

Belarusian Hajun also noted that the engine caught fire in the same MiG-31K that burned on December 25, 2022, during an attempt to take off from the airfield in Machulishchy.