MOSCOW (Reuters) -Belarus said on Wednesday that it had shot down some drones which went astray due to electronic jamming during an exchange of strikes between Russia and Ukraine, and that Minsk had informed Poland and Lithuania of the approach of the drones.
The statement by Belarus Chief of the General Staff Major General Pavel Muraveiko did not say whose drones – also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – went astray.
“During the night-time exchange of strikes by UAVs between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, the Air Defence Forces and assets of the Republic of Belarus on duty continuously tracked UAVs that had lost their track as a result of the impact of the parties’ electronic warfare assets,” Muraveiko said in a statement issued in English.
“Some of the lost drones were destroyed by our country’s Air Defence Forces over the territory of the republic,” he said.
Poland said a large number of Russian drones had violated its airspace during the incident, and those that posed a direct threat had been shot down.
Muraveiko said Poland and Lithuania were informed of the approach of the drones.
“This allowed the Polish side to respond promptly to the actions of the drones by scrambling their forces on duty,” Muraveiko said.
“The Republic of Belarus will continue to fulfil its obligations within the framework of the exchange of information on the air situation with the Republic of Poland and the Baltic countries.”
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Trevelyan)
