Commentary to Decree No. 215 of 5 June 2019

    On 5 June Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed Decree No. 215 “On preventing flights of model aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles”.

    In line with the document, people serving in the military, law enforcement and paramilitary security services are authorized to use physical force, special tools, weapons, combat and special-purpose machinery against model aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles performing a flight in violation of the established rules. Their flight can be interrupted by compelling them to land, by causing damage or destroying them. These powers are granted to the military, law enforcement and paramilitary security services in order to combat the illegal use of unmanned aerial vehicles in security zones and in the areas where the use of model aircraft is prohibited.

    The officers who legally used physical force, special tools, weapons, combat and special-purpose machinery against model aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles performing a flight in violation of the established rules shall not be held liable for damages to model aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

    At present there are areas where the use of model aircraft is forbidden and security zones where aircraft cannot fly.

    A security zone is an air space over the territories (facilities) that are crucial for the country’s security (places where guarded persons are kept, arsenals with ammunition and weapons, oil refineries, chemical and petrochemical companies, the Belarusian nuclear power plant and some others). The flight of any aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles, in the security zone shall be performed only upon a special permission.

    The area where the use of model aircraft is forbidden is part of an air space where model aircraft cannot fly without permission of the government agency (organization) for which this area was established (civil and military airdromes, military installations, state border, etc.).