Belarus protests to Ukraine after downing stray air defence missile

On Thursday (29 December), Belarus protested to Ukraine’s ambassador after it claimed that it had shot down a Ukrainian S-300 missile defense system in a field. This was during one of Russia’s most severe aerial attacks against Ukraine.

Oleg Konovalov (military commissar for the Brest region), played down the incident in a video posted by the state-run BelTA media agency on social media. He said that locals had "absolutely no reason to worry. These things do happen."

He likened the incident to one that occurred in November when an S-300 thought to have strayed from being fired by Ukrainian air defenses, and landed on NATO-member Poland's territory, raising fears of an escalation, but which was quickly defused.

The formal protest was nevertheless filed against the decision by the Ukrainian ambassador who was summoned to Minsk's foreign ministry.

Anatoly Glaz, spokesperson for Belarus, stated that the incident was considered extremely serious by the Belarussian side.

"We demanded that Ukraine conduct an extensive investigation... Hold those responsible accountable and take comprehensive steps to prevent such incidents from happening again."

The Ukrainian defense ministry stated that it is ready to invite experts from other countries to investigate the incident that it claimed resulted in the repelling of a "barbaric", Russian missile attack that struck civilian targets.

The ministry released a statement saying that the Ukrainian side is willing to conduct an objective investigation into Ukraine.

It stated that it didn't rule out a "deliberate provocation" in which Russia launched cruise missiles from a route where they could be intercepted by Belarusian forces.

In effect, the Ukrainian military spokesperson also acknowledged that the missile was a stray. He said that the incident was "nothing unusual, a result of air defence" and that it had "has happened more than once".

Both Russia and Ukraine use the Soviet-era S-300 air defense system.

According to Belarus, the missile was seen near Harbacha, Brest region, about 15 kms (9 mi) from the border with Ukraine at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT).

The Belarus defense ministry stated that fragments were discovered in an agricultural field. "The wreckage belonged to an S-300 anti-aircraft missile guided missile fired from Ukraine's territory."

As Russia launched its latest missile attack on cities in Ukraine, the missile lost track of time. The defense ministry stated that more than 18 residential buildings were damaged and 10 infrastructure targets were hit in 10 regions.

BelTA published video and photos of parts of the S-300 missile that were found in an unoccupied field.

In February, Belarus allowed Moscow to use its territory to invade Ukraine. Since then, there has been an increasing amount of Russian and Belarusian military activity within Belarus.

Minsk insists that it isn't participating in the war and will not take part unless its security is endangered by Ukraine or Ukraine’s Western allies.

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