Belarus downs Ukraine air defense missile

• Belarus claims to have shot down a Ukrainian air defense missile on its soil.
• It happened during Russia’s most aggressive aviation attack on Ukraine.
• Minsk’s foreign ministry summons the Ukrainian ambassador.

The Ukrainian ambassador has been called by Belarus, which claims to have shot down a Ukrainian air defense missile on its soil.

It took place during one of Russia’s most intense aviation assaults on Ukraine to date. State television footage from Belarus appeared to show missile debris in a field.

The event, according to a military spokeswoman for Ukraine, was “the outcome of air defense.”

After the S-300 rocket crashed close to the border, Belarus, a significant ally of Russia, urged that Kiev conduct a thorough inquiry.

Since the Russian incursion in February, Belarus has never before shot down a missile intended for Ukraine.

The Minsk foreign ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador.

Belarusian spokesperson Anatoly Glaz informed the news agency Reuters that “the Belarusian side regards this situation as quite serious.”

To “take thorough measures to prevent the repetition of such occurrences in the future,” he urged Ukraine.

Additionally, the Kremlin expressed its deep worry over the incident during a press conference on Friday.

Inviting experts from nations that do not support “the terrorist state of Russia” to assist with the investigation into the incident, the Ukrainian defense ministry said it was prepared to do so. It also reserved “the unequivocal right to the defense and security of its own skies.”

It declared that it had not ruled out the possibility of a “deliberate provocation” in which Moscow fired its cruise missiles over Belarusian territory in order for them to be shot down.

According to Belarus, the missile landed close to the village of Harbacha in the Brest region, around 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

A witness told on Radio: “Our windows were shaking and the house was vibrating from what must have been a sound wave.”

The military commissar of the Brest region, Oleg Konovalov, sought to downplay the incident.

“Unfortunately, these things happen,” he said in a video posted to social media.

He compared it to an incident last month when a missile landed in Poland, killing two people.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Kyiv’s air defenses were “most likely” to blame, but Ukraine denied this.

Mr. Zelenskyy warned that Moscow “is only driving itself deeper into a dead end”.

“The status of the largest terrorist in the world will have consequences for Russia and its citizens for a long time. And each missile only confirms that all this must end with a tribunal. This is exactly what will happen,” he said.

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