The Kremlin mentioned on Friday it was extraordinarily involved a few Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile that was shot down after flying into the air area of its shut ally Belarus on Thursday.
Belarus’ defence ministry mentioned on Thursday its air defence forces had shot down a Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missile close to the village of Harbacha within the Brest area, some 15 km (9 miles) from the Belarus-Ukraine border.
It occurred whereas Russia was firing dozens of missiles at cities throughout Ukraine in one of many largest waves of strikes of the battle.
“That is an incident that causes excessive concern, not just for us, however for our Belarusian companions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters on Friday in Moscow’s first public touch upon the incident, which occurred round 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Thursday.
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The S-300 is a Soviet-era air defence system utilized by each Russia and Ukraine. In November, an S-300 believed to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defences – additionally throughout Russian air raids – landed on the territory of NATO-member Poland, triggering fears of an escalation that have been quickly defused.
Belarus allowed Moscow to make use of its territory in February as a staging put up for Russian troops and gear firstly of what Russia calls its “particular army operation” in Ukraine.
There has additionally been a rising flurry of Russian and Belarusian army exercise in Belarus in current months.
Peskov on Friday burdened the shut army ties between the 2 nations, saying they have been in “fixed dialogue and fixed coordination”.
Minsk has, nonetheless, insisted that it isn’t taking part within the battle in Ukraine, and won’t take part until its personal safety is threatened by Ukraine or Ukraine’s Western allies.