Zelenskyy says Russia using Belarus territory to circumvent Ukrainian defenses

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Russia was using ordinary apartment blocks on the territory of its ally Belarus to attack Ukrainian targets and circumvent Kyiv's defenses.

The Kremlin used Belarusian territory to launch its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Belarus remains a steadfast ally, though longstanding President Alexander Lukashenko has vowed to commit no troops to the conflict.

"We note that the Russians are trying to bypass our defensive interceptor positions through the territory of neighboring Belarus. This is risky for Belarus," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram after a military staff meeting.

"It is unfortunate that Belarus is surrendering its sovereignty in favor of Russia's aggressive ambitions."

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence had observed that Belarus was deploying equipment to carry out its attacks "in Belarusian settlements near the border, including on residential buildings.

"Antennae and other equipment are located on the roofs of ordinary five-storey apartment buildings, which help guide 'Shaheds' (Russian drones) to targets in our western regions. This is an absolute disregard for human lives, and it is important that Minsk stops playing with this."

The Russian and Belarusian defense ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Zelenskyy said the staff meeting also discussed ways of financing interceptor drones, which officials in Kyiv see as the best economically viable means of tackling Russian drone attacks, which have grown in intensity in recent months.

The president said the Ukrainian military's general staff had been charged with working out changes to strategy in fending off air attacks "to defend infrastructure and frontline positions."

Lukashenko this month said Russia's Oreshnik ballistic missile system, described by Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin as impossible to intercept, had been deployed to Belarus and entered active combat duty.

An assessment by two US researchers, reported by Reuters on Friday, said Moscow was likely stationing the nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik at a former air base in eastern Belarus, a development that could bolster Russia’s ability to deliver missiles across Europe. —Reuters