In one of Russia’s biggest missile attacks against Ukraine since the start of the war, the Belarusian defence ministry said that its air defences had shot down an S-300 missile from the Ukrainian side in a field on Thursday morning.
In a video message shared on social media by the state-run BelTA news agency, the military commissar of the Brest region, Oleg Konovalov, downplayed the incident, claiming that locals had “There is nothing to be concerned about.
Sadly, these things do occur “.
He contrasted the episode to one in November when initial concerns of a conflict escalation were quickly allayed after an S-300 thought to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defences landed in NATO member Poland.The S-300 is a Soviet-era air defence system that is used by both Russia and Ukraine.
Around 10 a.m. on Thursday, the Belarusian ministry reported shooting down a missile close to the village of Harbacha in the Brest region, around 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the Ukrainian border (0700 GMT)
The S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile was fired from Ukrainian territory, the ministry stated in a statement. “Fragments were located in an agricultural field… During the verification procedure, it was proven that the wreckage belongs to an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile.”
The incident happened as Russia launched its most recent round of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.
BelTA tweeted images and video of what it claimed to be S-300 missile pieces laying in a barren area.
The defence ministry said it would release more specific details soon but did not provide any information on casualties.
In February, Belarus permitted Moscow to utilise its territory as a launching pad for the invasion of Ukraine. Since then, there has been an uptick in military action between Russia and Belarus.
However, Minsk has stated that it is not a party to the conflict and would not become one unless Ukraine or Ukraine’s Western allies pose a threat to their own security.
While Russia has looked to employ repurposed S-300 missiles to attack ground targets, Kyiv has used the S-300 system to intercept incoming Russian missiles. According to military analysts, this could be a hint that Russia’s missile inventories are running low.
