Ukraine identifies signal-relay balloon that crossed from Belarus
The threat from Belarus has not disappeared, Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service stressed. (Photo: Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy via Reuters)
An aerial object that entered Ukraine from Belarus on the
evening of May 2 was later identified as a balloon equipped with a signal
relay, Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service,
said on May 3 during the national
telethon.
“We also saw an aerial object enter from Belarus yesterday
evening, which was later identified as a balloon. In fact, this device used a
relay to boost the signal for aerial attack weapons that Russia uses against
Ukraine during strikes,” Demchenko said.
He stressed that “the threat from Belarus remains.”
Demchenko said Belarus “continues to aid Russia.”
“Of course, I cannot openly disclose everything now, but we
can expect or prepare for attempts to destabilize the situation along our
border. We do not rule out provocations,” the State Border Guard Service
spokesperson said.
Demchenko also said Ukraine is not currently observing a
large concentration of Russian forces on Belarusian territory.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on May 2 that “specific
activity” had been observed near the Belarusian border.
He stressed that Ukraine was carefully tracking all changes.
“We are carefully recording everything, controlling
everything, and if necessary, we will respond. Ukraine is ready to defend its
people and its sovereignty, and anyone being drawn into any aggressive activity
against Ukraine must understand that,” Zelenskyy said.
Later that day, monitoring Telegram channels reported that
an aerial object had crossed Ukraine’s state border from Belarus.
The channels suggested it was a balloon. It was detected
over the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.
An air alert was declared in Kyiv at 9:12 p.m. The Kyiv
Oblast Military Administration reported UAV movement in the region and said air
defenses were operating.
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