Belarus claims air defense shot down drones from Ukraine

Belarusian air defense reportedly destroyed assault drones flying from Ukraine, according to Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. The incident allegedly occurred Friday evening, prompting the Belarusian air force and air defense forces to raise their combat readiness. "The Armed Forces of Ukraine have violated all rules of conduct and breached the airspace of the Republic of Belarus," said the dictator.

Many reports from Russian and Belarusian media or government representatives are elements of propaganda. Such information is part of the information war conducted by Russia or Belarus.

– Yesterday at 12:10 PM, the Belarusian air force and air defense were moved to higher combat readiness, – said Lukashenko.

– The fact is that – we suspect, not for the first time – the Armed Forces of Ukraine have violated all rules of conduct and breached the airspace of the Republic of Belarus in the eastern direction, in the region of Kostyukovichi, – he said.

He described how targets were destroyed at an altitude of 5,000 feet over the territory of Belarus.

– Searches are underway for what was destroyed. We suspect these are assault drones that came from Ukraine. The remaining targets were hit in the Russian Federation. According to information from the Russian general staff and the commander of the Russian air defense in this direction, these targets were hit near Yaroslavl-Smolensk but then changed their flight path, – said Lukashenko.

– I do not understand why Ukraine is doing this. We must determine that. We have informed them that any provocations will not go unanswered, – said the dictator.

– It is unpleasant that the Ukrainians, as I have repeatedly warned, show in this way that they are not ready for any peace and continue to escalate. Two days ago, there was an attack in the direction of Kursk, where they advanced several dozen miles, 20-22 miles, and are already entrenched today. Well, this is a provocation aimed at striking the Russian Federation, – he said. He added that this provocation "will not last long."

– This once again shows that we must work tirelessly here and achieve appropriate results to avoid what is happening in Ukraine today, – he concluded.

The Ukrainian side has not yet responded to these reports.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Ukrainians had conducted a large drone attack on its territory at night, primarily in the Kursk region. Moscow claims that dozens of drones were destroyed.