Alexander Lukashenko said one “very serious” target in Ukraine, reacting to the statement of Unmanned Systems Force commander Robert Brovdi regarding 500 targets in Belarus.
“They may have identified 500 targets – thank you that we have 500 targets for them. We have one very serious target, with precise coordinates, and quite close to Belarus. They also understand this,” he said in a video, released by the telegram channel “Pool of the First,” close to the current administration.
On 26 May, the commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Force, Robert Brovdi (call sign “Magyar”), warned Lukashenko against Belarus joining Russia’s war against Ukraine, recalling “500 targets.”
“To Lukasescu’s Minsk gauleiter: a scolding dog does not bite. A bird of prey is not like that. The first 500 goals are already on the pencil. Free and very practical advice: stay out of Ukraine’s eyes,” he wrote in a telegram.
Russia and its ally Belarus held nuclear drills on 19-21 May amid escalating drone attacks on Russia. Belarus, which borders NATO’s eastern flank, also hosts Oreshnik, Russia’s latest missile system capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
On 19 May, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyy, commenting on the Russian threat from Belarus, said that possible operations in the north were a real possibility.
After these statements, Alexander Lukashenko said that Minsk “will not be dragged” into Russia’s war against Ukraine, but there is a condition – if it is not aggression against the territory of Belarus.
Belarus is not directly involved in the war against Ukraine, but in February 2022, its authorities provided the country’s territory for the passage and deployment of Russian troops, while strikes against Ukraine were launched from the territory of Belarus.