Updates with Belarus stating it shot down the missileRussian ally Belarus stated on Thursday that its air defense shot down a rocket released from Ukrainian territory, in the first such incident reported by Minsk considering that the start of Moscows Ukraine offensive.The Defense Ministry in Minsk stated a missile was shot down around 10:00 am local time with its debris discovered in a town in the western Brest region of Belarus, which borders Ukraine and Poland.
It was preliminarily developed that the fragments came from an S-300 anti-aircraft directed missile introduced from the area of Ukraine, the ministry stated in a statement.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko was instantly informed of the occurrence, a Telegram channel near to the presidency said.There have actually been no reports of injuries or casualties so far.The Belarus military and investigators were dispatched to the website of impact, President Alexander Lukashenkos press service said on Telegram.Lukashenko is an ally of Moscow and has actually supported its intrusion of Ukraine, enabling Russian troops to launch part of their February intrusion from its area.
Moscow and Minsk performed joint military drills close to the nations border with Ukraine as a smokescreen for the Russian armys build-up of soldiers.
The Belarusian army has not so far participated in the Russian invasion, though in October Lukashenko released an alerting to the Kyiv government versus touching even a meter of our area with their filthy hands.
This is the 2nd time given that the start of the war that a Ukrainian rocket has actually gone into a country other than Russia-- on Nov.
15, a Ukrainian rocket landed in Poland leaving 2 individuals dead and stimulating issue that NATO could be drawn into the dispute in Ukraine.However, the event was later on widely accepted to have actually been a Ukrainian air defense missile that had missed its incoming target.AFP contributed reporting.