Тэкст на беларускай мове
“This means we need DOSAAF,” the head of state stressed.
The discussion also touched upon pilot training. The president was informed that Belarus is the only post-Soviet country that has preserved a network of aero clubs and continues to develop it. There are five of them in total. This largely contributes to the quality flight training of pilots for both civil and military aviation.
“Is the training decent or are there shortcomings? Is the training of pilots going well?” Aleksandr Lukashenko asked.
Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin replied: “The level is sufficient.”
After a new training and logistics base was built, the DOSAAF Aero Club moved from the Borovaya airfield to the Lipki airfield in 2017. Lipki is used by both the state aviation emergency rescue institution Aviation of the Emergencies Ministry and the Minsk DOSAAF Aero Club.
Aleksandr Lukashenko asked whether that decision had been correct and how comfortable it was for DOSAAF and the Emergencies Ministry to operate on the same site. Chairman of the DOSAAF Central Council Andrei Nekrashevich assured him that there were no problems whatsoever. Moreover, the two agencies jointly address matters of comprehensive support.
In 2025, a sports and patriotic center was built at the airfield, featuring a shooting range, an adventure park, a workout area, a set of outdoor exercise machines, a zone for laser tag, airsoft, paintball and radio sport, an obstacle course, children’s playgrounds, and other facilities.
“You have done well. You relocated quickly and put the territory in order. I wanted to say ‘in a military way’, but even Khrenin [Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin] doesn’t have it this good,” the Belarusian leader said as he assessed the site.
Furthermore, after the relocation, all flight personnel of the Minsk Aero Club underwent retraining on new types of equipment within a year. This was done in fulfillment of the head of state’s instruction to organize flight training for civil aviation pilots. Modern equipment was procured in stages: a single-engine Viper SD4 aircraft, a twin-engine Tecnam, and a training simulator. Thus, Belarus has a national school for training civilian pilots. In 2025, the first ten civilian pilots completed their training.
“You have done well in this regard. The Russians also have a decent setup, but they envy us and keep asking: ‘Give us your pilots.’ I tell them: ‘We need them ourselves. But you are welcome to come and train here,’” the Belarusian leader noted.
It was reported that DOSAAF is also involved in developing various sports. These include practical shooting, paintball, airsoft, laser tag, motorsports (automobile and motorcycle), underwater sports, parachuting, air sports, and many others.
During his time at the Minsk DOSAAF Aero Club, the president toured the Space pavilion. Among the exhibits are personal belongings of Belarusian cosmonauts and Yuri Gagarin. Aleksandr Lukashenko showed particular interest in the descent module of the Soyuz spacecraft. The museum has personal items and pieces of equipment belonging to cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya.
An interesting detail from Yuri Gagarin’s biography: at one time, the first cosmonaut trained at the Saratov Oblast Aero Club of DOSAAF USSR. Thus, aero clubs have a direct connection to cosmonautics. Before his space flight, Yuri Gagarin qualified as a foundryman. One of the aircraft models he cast is kept in the Space pavilion at the Minsk DOSAAF Aero Club. The cosmonaut’s niece told the head of state about these and other episodes from Yuri Gagarin’s life in detail.
The head of state also reviewed numerous aircraft on display outdoors, along with various parachute systems. At the end of his visit to the Minsk DOSAAF Aero Club, Aleksandr Lukashenko received a model of an Antonov An-2 aircraft as a gift.
