Russia not carpet-bombing Ukraine but Zelensky was warned of danger - Lukashenko

MINSK. March 1 (Interfax) - Russian troops were told by their president to operate with surgical precision to rule out civilian casualties in Ukraine, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"So, no carpet bombardments are carried out, but such an approach increases the likelihood of losses among personnel," Lukashenko was quoted by the BelTA state-run news agency as telling the Security Council and ministers on Tuesday.

He also mentioned some details of his conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "I said to Zelensky: the most dreadful thing is if Russians tolerate and tolerate, before proceeding, like Americans do, to something like carpet bombing."

This is also down to specific army culture where "whenever a battalion wages a battle and its commander sees his boys, his kids getting killed, you think he will have time for this 'surgery'? He will use all weapons to smash everything from where the gunfire is coming," Lukashenko said.

In this respect, Russian troops should be given credit for "conducting the operation, but also surgically so," Lukashenko said.