Belarus said Wednesday it had shot down a reconnaissance drone approaching from Ukraine, the latest incident along a border that Russia used to launch its military operation in Ukraine.
“Border guards in Pinsk spotted a quadcopter 100 metres from the border, heading from the Ukrainian side to the territory of Belarus,” the border guard said in a statement.
“A border patrol shot down the drone with a Kalashnikov rifle,” it added.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February from Belarus, which has been ruled for nearly three decades by authoritarian leader and Kremlin-ally Alexander Lukashenko.
In October, Minsk accused Kyiv of planning an attack and announced the deployment of a joint military force with Russia.
Kyiv said the announcement as well as hostile statements from Minsk signaled the “growing” threat of a new offensive launched by Moscow from Belarus.
Belarus said Wednesday the drone it shot down was “equipped with a video camera” and being used to film its border defenses.
Minsk shot down another drone over the southeastern region of Gomel earlier this month, the state-run news agency Belta has reported.