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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of using ordinary apartment buildings on the territory of its Belarusian ally to attack Ukrainian targets and bypass kyiv’s defenses.
Zelensky made the allegations Friday amid revelations from intelligence experts that Moscow likely stationed its new nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missiles at a former air base in eastern Belarus – a move seen as strengthening Russia’s ability to strike targets in Europe.
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“We see that the Russians are trying to bypass our defensive interceptor positions through the territory of neighboring Belarus. This is risky for Belarus,” Zelensky wrote on the messaging app Telegram on Friday after a military staff meeting.
“It is regrettable that Belarus is abandoning its sovereignty in favor of Russia’s aggressive ambitions,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Zelensky said Ukrainian intelligence observed Belarus deploying equipment “in Belarusian settlements near the border, including on residential buildings” to help Russian forces carry out their attacks.
“Antennas and other equipment are located on the roofs of ordinary five-story apartment buildings, which help guide the “Shaheds” [Russian drones] to targets in our western regions,” he said.
“This is absolute disregard for human lives, and it is important that Minsk stops playing with this,” he added.
The Russian and Belarusian defense ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia had already used Belarusian territory to launch its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Belarus remains a staunch ally, even though President Alexander Lukashenko has pledged not to commit any troops to the conflict.
Belarusian Defense Minister: “Our response” to the West’s “aggressive actions”
Amid reports of closer coordination between Russia and Belarus In the war against Ukraine, satellite images analyzed by two US researchers appear to show Moscow stationing Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missiles in eastern Belarus, according to an exclusive report from the Reuters news agency.
Oreshnik had been described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as impossible to intercept, and he had already made clear his intention to deploy the missiles – which have an estimated range of 5,500 km (3,400 miles) – in Belarus.
Researchers Jeffrey Lewis of the Institute for International Studies in Middlebury, Calif., and Decker Eveleth of the CNA research and analysis organization in Virginia, said they were 90 percent certain that the Oreshnik mobile launchers would be stationed at the former Russian air base near Krichev, about 190 miles (307 km) east of Minsk, the Belarusian capital.
The U.S. researchers said examination of satellite images revealed a rushed construction project in Belarus that began between Aug. 4 and 12 and contained features consistent with those of a Russian strategic missile base.
One of the “telltale features” in a Nov. 19 satellite image was a “military-grade rail transfer point” surrounded by a security fence to which the missiles, their mobile launchers and other components could be delivered by train to the site, Eveleth told Reuters.
Another feature, Lewis said, was the construction of a concrete platform that was then covered with dirt and which he called “consistent” with a camouflaged missile launch point.
The researchers’ assessment largely aligns with the findings of U.S. intelligence services, according to the report.
Russia and Belarus have not yet commented on the Reuters information.
But, earlier this month, President Lukashenko acknowledged the deployment of such weapons in his country, without however specifying in which part of the country the Russian missiles were deployed. He added that up to 10 Oreshniks would be deployed in the country.
The official BelTA news agency cited Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin as saying this week that the deployment of the Oreshnik would not change the balance of power in Europe and was “our response” to the West’s “aggressive actions.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Russian missile deployment in Belarus.
The Ukrainian capital was the target of a new “massive” Russian attack early Saturday, with explosions reported in the city, air defenses in operation and the Ukrainian military saying cruise and ballistic missiles were being deployed.
On Sunday, President Zelensky is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump to finalize a possible ceasefire agreement between Moscow and kyiv.
Before the meeting, Zelensky told the Axios news site that he was willing to put the Washington-led “20-point” peace plan to a referendum – provided Russia agrees to a 60-day ceasefire to allow Ukraine to prepare for and hold such a vote.
