Ukraine was preparing missile strike on Belarus, but Russian troops destroyed its firing positions - Lukashenko

MINSK. March 1 (Interfax) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that before Russia's special operation began in Ukraine, Ukrainian troops were planning an attack on the Belarusian territory, but it was thwarted by the Russian Armed Forces.

Speaking at an expanded meeting of the Belarusian Security Council, he said that before the decision to start the special operation was made, the Russian and Belarusian intelligence services had located several anti-air and missile battalions in Ukraine in close proximity to the Belarusian border. According to Lukashenko, they were preparing "to deliver a strike on the Russian troops in areas of their concentration in the Belarusian territory."

"Russia delivered a preemptive strike on those heavy weapons and positions to prevent its losses and an impact on Belarus at the same time the decision about the operation was announced. If it had not been done, those missiles would have landed in Gomel and Mozyr," the Belarusian presidential press service quoted Lukashenko as saying.