Wandering the pages of russian wartime media is sometimes confusing. One example is the jargon popular among so-called military bloggers, a biased yet paradoxically more reliable source of information than Kremlin-owned media outlets. Each time there happens an incident involving a takedown of an allied aircraft under suspicious circumstances, they tend to attribute the loss to "Laotian Air Defense," which is meant to hint their audience about the chance russian air defense accidentally shot down its own aircraft.
The logic behind their using such a roundabout way to describe a potential mishap is clear: while being critical of russian armed forces, they need to beware of accusations about "discrediting the russian army" which is criminalized in the russian federation. Though it doesn't explain what the country of Laos and its air defense have to do with such incidents.
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For starters, let's approach this question literally. Really, what kind of air defense force does Laos have? According to The Military Balance 2024, as of the beginning this year, the Laotian Armed Forces had six S-125M Pechora-M surface-to-air missile systems which were reportedly modernized in belarus. Additionally, some Yitian and Strela-10 self-propelled systems, and Igla-1, Strela-2 MANPADS.
Missile systems are complemented by anti-air artillery: self-propelled ZSU-23-4 Shilka, towed ZPU-1/ZPU-4, ZU-23-2, M-1939, and S-60 guns.
Notably, russian milbloggers mention the Laotian air defense in a derogatory or rather colonial manner, implying the context. Among other reasons, this context stems from the character of defense cooperation between russia and Laos.
For example, once, Defense Express recalled an instance where Moscow bought T-34-85 tanks from Laos. These were procured in 2019 and supposed to take part in parades. The archaic tanks came at a painfully high price for the russians who in return supplied ten brand-new T-72B1 White Eagle tanks and four Yak-130 trainer aircraft. Alternatively, one source suggests Laos was forgiven a $300-million debt dating back to Soviet Union times.
The fact 30 aging T-34s (not even the original ones but made in the 1950 in Czechoslovakia) were bought for all these goods was met with outrage in russia, raising suspicions that the entire batch of Laotian tanks cost hardly above $1 million.
Now, an interesting historical fact comes to light if we keep digging information about Laotian air defense. This episode dates back to the Vietnam War. In neighboring Laos, there is a place called the Plain of Jars of over 5,000 years old, where Laotian air defense systems were hiding during the war, ambushing U.S. aircraft.
Remarkably, by crediting any downing of a russian aircraft under unclear circumstances as "Laotian air defense's" job, besides implying that the culprit is somewhere hidden but also subconsciously admit their Aerospace Forces of russia are on the losing side of the war in Ukraine.
For now, a mere speculation, but in time, this may prove closer to the truth than these military bloggers might actually think.
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