The Belarusian mercenaries in Côte d'Ivoire are a group of former career pilots and technicians of the Armed Forces of Belarus.
They were sent under the alleged patronage of the French and Belarusian authorities to assist the government army of Laurent Gbagbo in the First Ivorian Civil War.
Belarusians were engaged in retraining African pilots who had previously flown the French Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet to operate Soviet Su-25 attack aircraft.
The incident led to the capture of the Yamoussoukro airfield by French troops and the performances of the Young Patriots militia in Abidjan.
[1] At that time, in addition to citizens of Belarus, there were also hired aviation specialists from France, South Africa, Russia and Ukraine in Ivory Coast.