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Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko ordered reinforcements sent to border areas near Ukraine following reports of several aerial targets from Ukraine getting shot down over Belarus on the evening of August 9. “We suspect these are attack drones,” Lukashenko said at a morning briefing on August 10, published by the state-run propaganda outlet Belta. He called the incident “a Ukrainian provocation” and said that “the General Staff of Belarus has been ordered to take measures to ensure the security of our state”. After his briefing, Belarusian defense minister Viktor Khrenin told journalists that Lukashenko ordered to strengthen military presence in the Gomel and Mozyr directions “in order to respond to possible provocations”, according to the statement by the Defense Ministry. On the Ukrainian side, the area borders Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv oblasts.“Military units of special operations forces, ground forces, missile forces, including the Polonez rocket systems and Iskander (mid-range ballistic missile) complexes, were tasked with marching to designated areas.” Khrenin said. “The forces and assets of air defense systems, radio-technical forces and aviation were also increased,” he added.The drones were reportedly detected over the Kastsyukovichy District in the west of Belarus, at least 85 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border. According to Lukashenko, Belarusian air defense forces were “put on high alert to intercept the targets”. Around 7 p.m., several were shot down by Belarusian forces, while the rest were “passed on to Russia” and destroyed by Russian air defense over Yaroslavl, he said. Lukashenko added that the search was ongoing for the remains of intercepted targets.The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement claiming the destruction of 6 fixed-wing UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) above Yaroslavl Oblast overnight, as well as 26 others over Kursk Oblast. The statement comes in light of the ongoing Ukrainian incursion in the Russian Kursk Oblast over 150 kilometers east of Belarus. Russian UAVs have crossed into Belarusian airspace several times over the summer on their way to attack Ukraine, the Belarusian Hajun monitoring group reported.The monitoring group said that “despite the massive and regular flights of UAVs into the airspace of Belarus,” Minsk made “practically no comments” on the situation.Belarus did, however, start sending Su-30 fighter jets to fly to the south of the country during Russian attacks on Ukraine, the group reported.
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