Belarus’ defense ministry said it shot down a Ukrainian S-300 missile that landed in Belarussian territory Thursday, later assuring the population the incident was no cause for alarm, according to multiple reports.
Authorities were investigating the incident after a preliminary evaluation found the missile, which crashed in a field in Brest roughly 9 miles from the Ukrainian border at around 10 a.m. local time, originated from Ukrainian territory, according to official BelTA news agency. The event occurred during one of Russia’s largest missile barrages across Ukraine since the beginning of the war, Reuters reported.
Oleg Konovalov, military commissar of the Brest region, said Belarussians had “absolutely nothing to worry about” in a statement on social media, Reuters reported. “Unfortunately, these things happen.” (RELATED: A New Player In Ukraine War? Key Russian Ally Moves Troops, Sparking Fears)
Konovalov referenced an incident earlier this fall, when a Ukrainian air defense system allegedly misfired, sending a stray missile crashing down in Poland and killing three people. Poland, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mutual defense alliance, urged a cautious response to prevent further escalation.
No casualties from the incident have been reported, BelTA reported.
“Fragments were found in an agricultural field … During the verification process, it was established that the wreckage belongs to an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile fired from the territory of Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement, according to Reuters.
Belarus initiated joint training drills with Russian forces in October but has resisted pressure from Moscow to enter the war.
Belarus’ OSA-AKM surface-to-air missile launchers and S-300 antiaircraft systems move to firing positions during the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises Zapad-2017 (West-2017) at a training ground near the village of Volka, some 200 km southwest of Minsk, on September 19, 2017. (SERGEI GAPON/AFP via Getty Images)
Both Russia and Ukraine have fielded S-300 defense systems, a legacy of the Soviet era, according to Reuters.
Moscow executed a sizable barrage of missiles in cities across Ukraine, including the capital of Kyiv, on Thursday, amid an escalation of aerial attacks as Russia’s ground forces continue to meet setbacks, The Wall Street Journal reported. Ukraine’s defense ministry claimed it shot down 54 of 69 missiles as well as several Iranian-made Shahed drones.
“The situation is just stuck,” Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov told the BBC Thursday, adding that Russian troops are “now completely at a dead end.”
“The enemy keeps resorting to missile terror against peaceful citizens of Ukraine,” Valeriy Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military officer, said in a statement on social media, the WSJ reported.
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