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The Minister of Defense of Belgium firmly denies any Belgian involvement in the alleged airstrike
This afternoon, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation handed over to the Defense Attaché of the Embassy of Belgium in Moscow so-called evidence that would demonstrate that Belgian Air Force F-16 aircraft were responsible for an air strike carried out in the Aleppo region in the early hours of 18 October, causing a number of civilian casualties. This so-called evidence consisted of a map with a flight trajectory, allegedly flown by Belgian aircraft.
From this map it is evident that the IFF (identification friend or foe) numbers attributed to the aircraft by the Russian Ministry of Defense do not belong to Belgian Air Force aircraft, and that the so-called evidence has thus been fabricated. In this, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has itself demonstrated that the allegations towards Belgium are groundless.
The Minister of Defense of Belgium, Steven Vandeput, firmly stands by the statement issued jointly with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs yesterday, denying any Belgian involvement in the alleged airstrike, and expects a formal retraction of this groundless and unsubstantiated allegation.
