A Russian combat drone entered the airspace of Belarus during an attack on Ukraine, the Ukrainian army reported, quoted by DPA and BTA.
Kiev said that four Iranian-made drones “Shaheed“ were shot down over Kharkiv and Donetsk regions on Friday night. “The fifth one left the airspace of Ukraine in the direction of Belarus”, Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk announced in Telegram.
The Belarusian military blog “Gayun Project“ (Hajun Project) confirmed the incident, informing that the Russian drone flew over Belarus for three hours and reached the northeastern city of Vitebsk.
It is currently unclear what happened to the drone, but the Belarusian military blog indicated that it was tracked by a Belarusian fighter jet and a helicopter, DPA noted.
According to the blog “Gayun“ a similar incident happened late on Thursday, when a Russian drone “Shahed“ entered Belarusian airspace before returning to Ukraine, near the exclusion zone surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The Ukrainian army has not confirmed this message, DPA points out.
Belarus is considered Russia's closest ally. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko helped Russian forces attack Ukraine without directly intervening in the conflict, the agency recalls.