A supposedly Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile landed in Belarus on Thursday, according to information released by the Belarusian military authorities, which support Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine.
According to a press release issued by the Belarusian Ministry of Defense, a missile launched by an S-300 air defense system “coming from Ukrainian territory” crashed in the morning on Belarusian territory.
This is the first such incident reported by Minsk since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine more than 10 months ago. Belarus serves as a rear base for Russian forces.
“Head of State [bielorrusso, Alexander Lukashenko] he was immediately informed of the incident,” the note reads, adding that the Ministry of Defense and the Investigative Committee of Belarus are conducting an investigation to determine the causes of the incident.
“Two main leads” are being investigated: either the missile deviated from its trajectory and mistakenly landed in Belarus, or it was shot down by Belarusian air defense, the army said.
The state news agency Belta published photos of missile fragments in a field, which were taken from a Telegram social network account linked to the Belarusian authorities.
Authorities said they had no information on injuries or property damage. In November, the fall of a missile on a Polish site, which caused the death of two people, raised fears that NATO would be drawn into the conflict in Ukraine -causing a significant escalation of tension in the region-, because Poland is protected by a collective defense commitment of the Atlantic Alliance.
Ukraine accused Russia of launching this missile in Poland, but according to the West and Moscow, it would have been launched by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense system and that it deviated from its trajectory.
Source: TSF
