Lukashenko announced destruction of air targets flying from Ukraine over the territory of Belarus and Russia
President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko is continuing his working trip to the Mogilev Region today, and the issues of effective development of agricultural production are the focus of his attention. In particular, at a meeting in the agro-town of Gorodishche, the problem of financial recovery of agricultural organisations was discussed on the example of the Kupalovskoye Holding. However, prior to the study of the prescheduled topic of conversation, the Commander-in-Chief commented on an incident related to the violation of the airspace of Belarus by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Yesterday [August 9th] at 06.10pm, the Air Force and Air Defence Forces of Belarus were put on high alert: we call it number one readiness. Not for the first time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine broke all rules of conduct and violated the airspace of the Republic of Belarus: in the eastern direction, in the area of the Kostyukovichi District. The Air Defence Forces were put on combat-ready alert to intercept the targets. There were about a dozen of the latter. Planes and a helicopter took off. In addition, the MLRS complexes were put on combat-ready alert. At 07:04pm, the Air Defence Forces destroyed several targets over the territory of Belarus, at an altitude of 1.5km and a range of 6.5km. The rest went under the control of the Russian Federation (we have a unified air defence system). As informed by Russia’s General Staff, the targets were destroyed near Yaroslavl,” the President said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko added that the search for the destroyed targets continues, “We suspect that those were attack drones, definitely flying from Ukraine. I do not understand why Ukraine needs this – so we should figure it out. Actually, we have clearly defined and informed them that we will respond to any provocation. Accordingly, the Defence Ministry and the General Staff of Belarus have been ordered to take appropriate measures in order to reliably ensure the security of our state.”
In connection with the incident, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted the high level of interaction with the Russian Air Defence Forces and the fact that all targets had been destroyed, both over the territory of Belarus and over the territory of Russia. “It is unpleasant that Ukrainians – and I have warned you of that many times – thus showing that they are not ready for any peace and continuing to escalate tensions. Two days ago, there was an attack in the Kursk direction, where they advanced several tens of kilometres. And here we have this provocation aimed at strikes against Russia,” he added.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the provocation would be discussed in the media for a long time, but – in order to avoid insinuations of various kinds – he decided to inform about it right now. “This once again shows, guys, that we need to work tirelessly here on our land and to produce appropriate results – so that to avoid the situation that is happening now in Ukraine," the President stressed.
