MOSCOW: The Kremlin expressed grave concern on Friday about a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile that was shot down after flying into Belarus’ airspace on Thursday.
Belarus’ defense ministry said on Thursday that its air defense forces shot down a Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missile near Harbacha in the Brest region, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Belarus-Ukraine border.
It happened as Russia launched dozens of missiles at cities across Ukraine in one of the conflict’s largest wave of strikes.
“This is an incident that causes extreme concern, not only for us, but also for our Belarusian partners,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, in the Kremlin’s first public comment on the incident, which occurred around 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Thursday.
The S-300 is a Soviet-era air defense system that Russia and Ukraine both use. An S-300 believed to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defenses — also during Russian air raids — landed on NATO-member Poland’s territory in November, sparking fears of an escalation that were quickly defused.
Belarus allowed Moscow to use its territory as a staging area for Russian troops and equipment at the start of Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine in February.
In recent months, there has also been an increase in Russian and Belarusian military activity in Belarus.
Peskov emphasized the two countries’ close military ties on Friday, saying they were in “constant dialogue and constant coordination.”
Minsk, on the other hand, has insisted that it is not involved in the Ukrainian conflict and will not become involved unless its own security is threatened by Ukraine or Ukraine’s Western allies.
Source: Reuters
