The Ukrainian charge d'affaires was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Minsk on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement. This was in connection with the alleged violation of Belarusian airspace by Kiev. According to the ministry, the Ukrainian diplomat was told that in the event of a “repeat of the provocations” in the future, Belarus may take “retaliatory measures”. The authorities in Kiev have not officially commented on the allegations from Minsk, and Lukashenko has not provided any evidence that Ukrainian drones have actually crossed the country's airspace.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Belarus announced in a statement on Saturday that the charge d'affaires had been summoned to the ministry Ukraine. It was reported that the Ukrainian side expressed a strong protest and received a diplomatic note. It was stated that the reason was that – as Belarus claims – the Belarusian border was violated by a group of drones that took off from Ukrainian territory.
Minsk demanded that Kiev take steps to prevent such incidents in the future, adding that such incidents could lead to “further escalation of the situation in the region.”
It also warned that in the event of a “repeat of provocations” in the future, Belarus could take “retaliatory measures.” It threatened to close the Ukrainian embassy if such incidents were repeated.
Belarus on Alleged Destruction of Targets That Ukraine Was Supposed to Launch
Earlier on Saturday, the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said that air defense forces were supposed to destroy several targets over the country on Friday. These were most likely drones launched from Ukraine.
According to Lukashenko, several targets were to violate Belarusian airspace in the bordering Russia Mogilev Oblast, which in turn was supposed to force the authorities to put the air force and air defense forces on high alert.
Also on Saturday, the leader issued an order to strengthen military units deployed in the Mogilev and Mozyr directions.
No evidence, Ukraine does not comment
The authorities in Kiev have not officially commented on the allegations from Minsk. Lukashenko has not provided any evidence that these were Ukrainian drones, stressed the independent Belarusian website Zerkalo.io.
As the portal noted, in recent weeks, Belarusian airspace has been repeatedly violated by Russian combat drones used by the Russian army to attack Ukraine. At least nine such cases were recorded in July. However, only the group monitoring military activity, Belarusian Hayun, wrote about them, and the Belarusian authorities have not once commented on the reports of these incidents.
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