Russia expands Belarus' role in war against Ukraine, Zelenskyy's office says
Photo: Pavlo Palisa (facebook.com/Pavlo.Palisa)
Russia uses Belarus as a convenient territory for exerting pressure and deploying missiles. But recently, Minsk has taken on another role, according to Pavlo Palisa, deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.
Read also: 'We did everything': Zelenskyy hints Ukraine destroyed Shahed drone relay towers in Belarus
Responding to a question about how it is strategically more important for Russia to use Belarus, Palisa notes several key aspects.
"It is more convenient for Russia to use the territory of Belarus as a territory for pressure and for placing missiles. But there is already active use of corridors for the passage of Shaheds using communication towers to control drone flights," Palisa says.
According to him, the direct involvement of the Belarusian army in the war against Ukraine poses great risks for the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, and has questionable combat value, but as a tool of pressure and blackmail, such a threat is being used.
Belarus helps guide drones to Ukraine
On February 18, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had imposed a package of sanctions against Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko for helping Russia in the war.
He said that in the second half of 2025, the Russians deployed a system of repeaters for controlling strike drones on the territory of Belarus, which increased the Russian army's ability to strike the northern regions of Ukraine from Kyiv to Volyn.
The President noted that the Russians would not have been able to carry out some of the strikes, particularly on energy facilities and railways in Ukrainian regions, without such assistance from Belarus.
Also yesterday, February 23, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hinted at operations to destroy the towers used to guide the Shahed drones on Belarusian territory.
