Kyiv has accused Russia of firing at a settlement in Belarus near the border with Ukraine in a “false flag” attempt to draw Minsk into joining Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of its neighbor.
Ukraine’s Air Command said in a statement on March 11 that border authorities received information detailing how Russian aircraft took off from an airfield in Belarus, crossed into Ukrainian airspace, and then fired back across at the Belarusian village of Kopani.
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Several Western intelligence agencies have warned that Russia will use “false flag” operations as part of its disinformation plan during its attack on Ukraine.
“This is a provocation! Goal: to get Belarusian armed forces involved in the war in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian Air Force Command said in a statement.
The Ukrainian military said two other Belarusian settlements were also targeted in the same operation.
The report came on the same day Belarus’s authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka visited with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Belarus has assisted Putin in launching the attack by allowing its territory to be used as a staging ground for Russian troops.
“We officially declare: The Ukrainian military has not planned and does not plan to take any aggressive action against the Republic of Belarus,” the security service said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
“We appeal to the Belarusian people: Do not let yourself be used in a criminal war!” it added.
Belarusian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Ina Harbachova dismissed the Ukrainian Air Force Command's statement as false.
"The Defense Ministry unequivocally states that the information about a missile strike at a Belarusian village is nonsense," Harbachova said.