‘Bear Drop’: Video

A footage proving the ‘bear-bombing’ — a bold action of solidarity with Belarusian dissidents performed by two pilots from Sweden — was uploaded on the Internet.

The video shows the plane making circles over a church and other buildings.

The location was identified: the bears with freedom support slogans were dropped in Ivianiec, a town 120 kilometers away from the Lithuanian border and 50 kilometers away from Minsk.

The plane resembles the one from Swedish mass media photos: it was shot before taking off to the ‘mission’.

The second video was shot on board the plane.

The footages look truthful, but it is still unclear if the plane arrived from Lithuania or not.

The Ministry of Defense has stated that there were no unsanctioned entries into Belarus’ air space on July 4.

Most mass media considered the toy drop to be a PR-action.

Still, if the Swedish pilots did really entered Belarus from Lithuania unnoticed, it will cause the greatest scandal in air defense forces since the flight of Matias Rust who landed his small Cessna on the Red Square in Moscow and made many high-rank officials leave their positions.

Belarusian authorities has repeatedly claimed to reliably secure Russia’s Eastern borders.

However, the flight of Swedes was very risky: everyone still remembers the incident with an American balloon that was shot down by Belarusian air defense forces in 1995. The two pilots — Alan Frenchel and John Stewart — who participated in an international balloon rally were killed.

Previously, Swedish mass media reported of a group of Swedes who took a risky and even life threatening solidarity action with Belarusian freedom movement.

Young activists managed to go beyond Mathias Rust: they have not just bypassed Belarusian air defense on the next day after the Independence Day posh parade, but managed to bomb morning Minsk with 800 parachute teddy bears with supportive slogans.

The pilots say they ‘assaulted’ the presidential residence at about 5 AM.

Later, mass mesia published the photos of ‘bear-bombing’. However, Minsk — the target for the attack — cannot be seen on any of them.

The goal of the action was to support democratic transition of Belarus.

Belarusian authorities have not commented on the incident yet.

It is said that a plane registered in Sweden took off in Lithuania and entered Belarusian air space with no permission.

The pilots considered shooting down the plane quite a possible scenario, but the mission was accomplished without contingencies.

“I don't know if anyone reported us. We were flying very low,”

said a pilot.

Swedish Aftonbladet says the action was funded by Studio Total, a PR-agency known for its audacious publicity stunts. Thus, Studio Total orchestrated a female rights support performance: they gave 100,000 SEK to feminist activists who burned the money as a protest against wages discrimination.

Initially, it was planned to drop flyers, but then Teddy-bears were chosen.

The Swedes might have been inspired by Belarusian youth movement Zmiena who set up ‘toy rallies’ in Minsk.

According to Studio Total, the action was carried out as an independent show of support for Charter 97, which is also a pro-human rights Belarusian news website, The Local says.

Aftonbladet, one of the most popular and influential Swedish newspapers, assures it learned about the toy bombing beforehand.

“We appreciate the idea of fighting the dictatorship with humor. The worst thing for a dictator is to be laughed at,”

“Using an airplane may seem brave, but living in Belarus takes even more courage,”

However, there are no documental evidences of the performance. The reporters of Nasha Niva visited the ‘beared sight’ but found neither teddy bears nor concerned law enforcement officers.

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