Status: 12/30/2022 2:19 p.m
After a rocket was launched in western Belarus, Minsk spoke of a possible provocation by Kiev – and summoned the Ukrainian ambassador. Kyiv offers to take part in the investigation of the incident.
After the discovery of an anti-aircraft missile on Belarusian territory, the Ministry of Defense in Minsk spoke of a possible provocation by Kiev.
“Either the unguided anti-aircraft missile was fired unintentionally because of the crew’s poor training, or the missile was defective, or it was a deliberate provocation by the Ukrainian armed forces,” said Belarusian anti-aircraft defense chief Kirill Kazantsev in a news channel Telegram Ministry statement.
Missile intercepted over western Belarus
Russia, meanwhile, expressed “extreme concern” about the missile. The Russian and Belarusian military are in constant contact with each other, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. A trusting dialogue between both sides ensures the exchange of sensitive information, he said without giving details.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Russia has thousands of soldiers and a lot of military equipment in Belarus. State media in the Belarusian capital Minsk had reported that a missile launched by the S-300 air defense system fell on Belarusian territory yesterday morning. According to Kazantsev, it was intercepted over the Ivanava district in the western Belarusian region of Brest.
Minsk convenes Ukrainian ambassador
Because of the incident, the Ukrainian ambassador has already been summoned to Minsk. Kyiv, for its part, has declared its readiness to cooperate in clarifying the incident.
Ukraine fended off a massive Russian missile attack yesterday. Some of the Russian rockets also hit objects in the western Ukrainian region of Lviv. “Therefore, a provocation by the terrorist state of Russia cannot be ruled out, which has chosen a flight path for its cruise missiles in such a way as to provoke their launch in the airspace over Belarus,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Fear of attack from Belarus
That would be a similar incident as in November when Polish territory was hit. Concerns are growing in Ukraine that Russia could launch a new attack from Belarus.
Such an incident could therefore be used by Belarus and Russia as an excuse to take action again from there.
Debris from a rocket in Belarus, drone attack in southern Russia
Christina Nagel, ARD Moscow, December 30, 2022 2:27 p.m