Lukashenko says air targets from Ukraine destroyed over Belarus

MINSK. Aug 12 (Interfax) - An incident occurred in Belarus' airspace on Friday evening and involved Ukraine's violation of it, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during a working visit to the Shklov district on Saturday.

"Air defense systems destroyed several targets over Belarus at the height of 1.5 kilometers and the range of 6.5 kilometers at 7:04 p.m. [on August 9]. The search of the things which were downed is underway since last night and this morning. We suspect those were attack drones. [They] flew from Ukraine, violating the Belarusian air space," the state-run BelTA news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying.

The Belarusian president said that the Belarusian Air Force and the air defense troops were put on high alert at 6:10 p.m. on Friday.

"The matter is, - and we suspect it's not the first time, - that the Ukrainian Armed Forces violate all rules of conduct and breached the airspace of the Republic of Belarus. In the eastern sector, very close to us in the Kostyukovichi district," Lukashenko said.

Air defense systems switched to complete combat alert to intercept the targets, he said. The targets over the Belarusian territory were destroyed, and information about the rest of them was shared with the Russian side, Lukashenko said.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry and the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces were instructed to take relevant measures to reliably ensure the state's security, he said. "I don't understand why Ukraine needs it. We need to figure it out. But we, as I said already, made it clear to them [Ukraine] that any provocations will not be left without a response," he said.

"It is unpleasant that Ukrainians, as I have already warned many times, show this way that they are not ready for any peace and are continuing to escalate these tensions," he said.