Belarus said its air defenses shot down a Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missile that flew into its territory Thursday — a rare instance of the war spilling over the border into Russia’s ally, where an official downplayed the incident.
(Bloomberg) — Belarus said its air defenses shot down a Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missile that flew into its territory Thursday — a rare instance of the war spilling over the border into Russia’s ally, where an official downplayed the incident.
Missile debris fell near the village of Gorbakha in the Ivanovo region of southern Belarus near the border with Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said Thursday on Telegram.
State-run news agency Belta published photos and videos of what appeared to be debris lying in a muddy field. There was no information about any casualties or other damage from the incident.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered his country to Russia as a launchpad for its invasion from the north into Ukraine in February while suppressing anti-war protests at home. The missile incident further raises stakes for the authoritarian ruler who so far has avoided sending his own troops into neighboring Ukraine while still providing Russia with mostly logistical support, munitions and care for the wounded. Belarus and Ukraine share more than 1,000 kilometers of common border.
“There is absolutely no reason for residents to worry,” the military commissar of the Brest region in Belarus said after the incident. “Such cases, unfortunately, happen.”
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces fired at least 69 cruise missiles into its territory Thursday. Ukrainian officials also said 54 of those missiles and an additional 11 Iranian-made drones were shot down.
–With assistance from Olesia Safronova.
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