kyiv accused Moscow on Saturday of wanting to “draw” Minsk, Russia’s diplomatic ally, “into the war” in Ukraine, after reporting earlier in the morning Russian missiles fired from neighboring Belarus at a Ukrainian village.
"Today's strike is directly linked to the Kremlin's efforts to draw Belarus into the war in Ukraine as a co-belligerent," the Ukrainian General Intelligence Directorate, attached to the Defense Ministry, said on Telegram.
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“Around 05:00 a.m. (02:00 GMT), the Chernigiv region came under massive missile bombardment.
Twenty rockets targeted the village of Desna, fired from the territory of Belarus (and also) from the air", the Northern command of the Ukrainian troops had indicated in the morning on Facebook, specifying that "there were no victims " at this stage.
"An infrastructure was affected," said the Ukrainian army, without indicating whether it was military or not.
Six planes reportedly fired missiles from Belarus
According to Ukrainian intelligence, “six Tu-22M3 aircraft fired 12 cruise missiles from the town of Petrykaw” in southern Belarus.
"The bombers took off from Chaikovka airport in the Kaluga region (west) in Russia", 270 km north of the Ukrainian border, he said.
“They then entered Belarusian airspace.
After launching the missiles, they returned to Russia,” he said, adding that in addition to Desna, the Russians had hit targets “in the kyiv and Sumy regions” (northeast).
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Desna, a small village of 7,500 inhabitants before the war, is located 70 km north of kyiv and the same distance south of the border with Belarus.
This strike comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko are to meet on Saturday in Saint Petersburg in Russia, before a visit to Belarus, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, by the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov.
Belarus, logistical support
Although not belligerent in the conflict with Ukraine at this stage, Belarus served as logistical support for Moscow's troops, especially in the first weeks of the Russian offensive.
The country, led by Lukashenko since 1994, has since been widely targeted by Western sanctions also taken against Russia.