Belarus plans to down Russian drones entering its airspace
Belarus might start intercepting Russian drones entering its airspace. However, not all of them. [ Lukashenko has been playing along with Russia and its military bloggers, claiming that these UAVs are coming from Ukraine's territory, according to Bulba.
Recently, during night raids on Ukraine, Russian kamikaze drones have increasingly intruded into Belarusian territory. Sergey Bulba, the founder of the Belarusian organization "White Legion", stated that Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko will allow these UAVs to be shot down if they pose a threat to infrastructure or civilians. Bulba mentioned during a television appearance on "Kyiv 24" that Lukashenko's recent announcement about downing 13 Shaheds allegedly coming from Ukraine is merely a performance to support Russia. The same applies to the September 5 incident when fighter jets were scrambled to down a UAV. Afterward, Russian military bloggers falsely claimed that the objects entered Belarus from Ukraine's Kharkiv region.
"But it's just the Russian bloggers," said Bulba. "Similar claims appeared in a local Mozyr district newspaper. They initially insisted it was a Ukrainian drone, but later retracted that information."
In August, Belarus accused Ukraine of violating its airspace using military drones. Minsk responded by deploying special operations forces, ground troops, missile units, and missile systems like "Polonez" and "Iskander" near the border. Yet, Ukrainian border guards have not seen any movement in this area despite the claims.
Additionally, Belarus threatened to close the Ukrainian embassy in Minsk, a claim which Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has publicly addressed. They urged Minsk not to stoke anti-Ukrainian sentiments or create an impression of confrontations from Ukraine.