President Alexander Lukashenko said Ukraine attacked Belarus, but its air defenses foiled Kiev’s missile strike. He did not provide evidence for his assertion and indicated Belarus would not have a military response.
Speaking at an Independence Day event on Saturday, Lukashenko said, “They are provoking us. I have to tell you, three days ago, maybe a bit more, an attempt to strike military facilities on Belarusian territory was made from the territory of Ukraine.”
"But, thank God, the Pantsir anti-aircraft systems managed to intercept all the missiles that the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched," he added.
Lukashenko has not provided evidence to back his claims. He indicated Minsk hopes to avoid entering into conflict with Kiev. He noted, "We hold on, we understand that these are provocations and we keep holding on. A bad peace is better than a good war."
However, Belarus allowed its territory to be used by Russia to invade Ukraine. Throughout the war, Kiev has claimed that Moscow used Minsk’s airspace several times to carry out strikes in Ukraine. The US and its allies have sanctioned Belarus in its economic war against Russia.
Moscow also claims Kiev’s forces targeted Russian territory. On Sunday, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Regional Governor of Belgorod, announced that Ukrainian missile attacks on civilian targets killed three people. Belgorod is less than 50 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border.
The US and UK have recently transferred Ukraine rocket launchers with a range of 50 miles. Belarus or Russia did not disclose the type of Ukrainian munitions used in the alleged attacks. The White House says the transfer of long-range rockets is conditioned on Kiev agreeing not to use the rockets to attack Russia.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.
A dangerous development if true, and it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction in wartime, that’s why it’s important to see historical pattern. But it would be an escalation. Ukraine might be keeping its promise not to fire American-supplied missiles at Russia. But would Moscow see an attack on Belarus as an indirect attack on Russia?
https://patternofhistory.wordpress.com/
Prior to the Russian SMO Ukraine had sent troops to train in Syria. ie invaded a sovereign nation, now that is ironic.
“SMO” (“Special Military Operation”) is sort of like “police action.” It’s something pro-war people call wars so they don’t have to admit they’re wars.
Once the Russians call for mobilisation then we will see what an actual war is. This is a SMO to disarm and denazify Ukraine. It of course may lead to a global war as the Nazified western powers have a choice……..Do they take us to WW3?
Russian estimates are 6,000 Ukraine troops dead in defense of Lysychansk. They are trained, equipped and funded by NATO. The Ukraine Banderites ran leaving their equipment behind them. Afghanistan anyone!
What’s the source of your last paragraph? Russian State TV?
Do you realize the Russians don’t even know what the term Neo Nazi means? To them is just Ukrainians that don’t want to be friendly to Russia anymore.
Do you know how many Neo Nazis are in Ukraine? Better yet, do you know Russia has exponentially more Neo Nazis than Ukraine?
And how do you de-nazify a country with estimated 300-900 Neo Nazis? Is it by leveling every city your army comes across?
Again, Russia is not de-nazifying anything, they are taking seaports and the grain/natural gas regions of Ukraine. The rest is just BS excuses.
Every day I read about the terrible things that happen to Russians fighting in Ukraine. But Russians still occupy Mariupol.
That reminds me of the famous phrase of Clemenceau (in translation) “but the Krauts are still at Soissons”.
They might refer to the large amount of casualties the Russian Army has suffered. Those soldiers died fighting for Putin’s personal agenda which is different than dying defending your country.
Special Military Operation to Disarm and Denazify Ukraine. Russia lost 30 million people fighting the Nazi’s in WW2.
It’s a war. And there’s zero chance that Ukraine will be disarmed or de-Nazified.
LOL Are you gonna be butt-hurt…
No, I’m not going to be “butt-hurt.” Unlike you, I have no emotional investment at all in which side wins the war. Living in the real world may be boring, but it limits disappointment versus trying to live in an orgiastic fantasy bubble like yours.
There’s a joke that goes “Two Russian soldiers are in Berlin at the end of WWII. One of them says, ‘I guess we lost the PR war.'” That’s what the Cossacks and Chechnyans are saying in Lysychansk today. If you haven’t seen the huge list of armaments the Russians captured there, it’s enormous: hundreds of tanks, armored vehicles, hundreds of artillery and mortars, all abandoned when the Ukrainians fled.
This statement from Lukashenko tells me he is preparing to commit forces into Ukraine in support of Putin. These are just pretexts to justify the war to his people however, Belorussians know better, they just cannot speak out.
I still think at some point Belarus and Russia will send forces down from Belarus. This is probably occur at the point where Lviv and Kiev are in play for capture. There is a small possibility that it might occur once Russia is at Dneiper; having forces come down from Belarus to outflank the river might be valuable. Just a thought.
What are the Russians going to do about Finland joining NATO and Lithuania partially blockading Kaliningrad?
Not much. For Kaliningrad, they can retaliate economically but also bypass the rail lines using ships. For Finland and Sweden, they won’t do anything unless NATO puts strategic weapons in those countries. If NATO does, they become the new Ukraine or at least Russia will place strategic weapons immediately opposite what weapons NATO puts there. I think that’s what they intend to do with Ukraine – put strategic weapons bases in Ukraine to counter the Aegis Ashore installations in Poland and Romania.