Russia using Belarus territory to bypass Ukraine’s defences, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of utilizing mean flat blocks connected the territory of its state Belarus to onslaught Ukrainian targets and circumvent Kyiv’s defences.

Zelenskyy made the allegations connected Friday amid revelations by quality experts that Moscow has apt stationed its caller nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missiles astatine a erstwhile airbase successful eastbound Belarus – a determination seen arsenic bolstering Russia’s quality to onslaught targets successful Europe.

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“We enactment that the Russians are trying to bypass our antiaircraft interceptor positions done the territory of neighbouring Belarus. This is risky for Belarus,” Zelenskyy wrote connected the Telegram messaging app connected Friday aft a subject unit meeting.

“It is unfortunate that Belarus is surrendering its sovereignty successful favour of Russia’s assertive ambitions,” the Ukrainian person said.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian quality had observed that Belarus was deploying instrumentality “in Belarusian settlements adjacent the border, including connected residential buildings” to assistance Russian forces successful carrying retired their attacks.

“Antennae and different instrumentality are located connected the roofs of mean five-storey flat buildings, which assistance usher ‘Shaheds’ [Russian drones] to targets successful our occidental regions,” helium said.

“This is an implicit disregard for quality lives, and it is important that Minsk stops playing with this,” helium added.>

The Russian and Belarusian defence ministries did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

Russia had antecedently utilized Belarusian territory to motorboat its February 2022 penetration of Ukraine, and Belarus remains a steadfast ally, though President Alexander Lukashenko has pledged to perpetrate nary troops to the conflict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko be a wreath-laying ceremonial astatine the Eternal Flame successful the Hall of Military Glory astatine the Mamayev Kurgan World War II memorial analyzable successful Russia’s confederate metropolis of Volgograd successful April 2025 [File: Alexander Nemenov/AFP]

Belarus defence minister: ‘Our response’ to the West’s ‘aggressive actions’

Amid reports of closer Russian and Belarusian coordination successful the warfare connected Ukraine, outer imagery analysed by 2 US researchers appears to amusement that Moscow is stationing Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missiles successful eastbound Belarus, according to an exclusive Reuters quality bureau report.

Oreshnik had been described by Russian President Vladimir Putin arsenic intolerable to intercept, and helium antecedently made wide his volition to deploy the missiles – which person an estimated scope of up to 5,500km (3,400 miles) – successful Belarus.

Researchers Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, successful California, and Decker Eveleth of the CNA probe and investigation organisation successful Virginia, said they were 90 percent definite that mobile Oreshnik launchers would beryllium stationed astatine the erstwhile Russian airbase adjacent Krichev, immoderate 307km (190 miles) eastbound of the Belarus superior of Minsk.

The United States researchers said reviews of outer imagery revealed a hurried operation task successful Belarus that began betwixt August 4 and 12, and contained features accordant with those of a Russian strategical rocket base.

One “dead giveaway” successful a November 19 outer representation was a “military-grade obstruction transportation point” enclosed by a information obstruction to which missiles, their mobile launchers and different components could beryllium delivered by bid to the site, Eveleth told Reuters.

Another feature, said Lewis, was the operation of a factual pad that was past covered with earth, and which helium called “consistent” with a camouflaged rocket motorboat point.

The researchers’ appraisal broadly aligns with US quality findings, according to the report.

Russia and Belarus person yet to remark connected the Reuters report.

But, earlier this month, President Lukashenko acknowledged the deployment of specified weapons successful his country, though helium did not accidental to which portion of the state the Russian missiles person been deployed. He added that up to 10 Oreshniks would beryllium deployed wrong the country.

State-run BelTA quality bureau quoted Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin arsenic saying this week that the Oreshnik’s deployment would not change the equilibrium of powerfulness successful Europe and was “our response” to the West’s “aggressive actions”.

The White House did not instantly respond to a petition for remark connected the reported Russian rocket deployment to Belarus.

Ukraine’s superior came nether a caller “massive” Russian onslaught aboriginal connected Saturday, with explosions reported successful the city, aerial defences successful cognition and the Ukrainian subject saying cruise and ballistic missiles were being deployed.

On Sunday, President Zelenskyy is scheduled to conscionable with US President Donald Trump to finalise a imaginable ceasefire woody betwixt Moscow and Kyiv.

In beforehand of the meeting, Zelenskyy told the Axios quality tract that helium was unfastened to putting the Washington-led “20-point” bid program to a referendum – arsenic agelong arsenic Russia agreed to a 60-day ceasefire to let Ukraine to hole for and clasp specified a vote.