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Kieu accused Russia of officially dragging Minsk into the war after a missile was launched into Ukraine from within the Belarusian border on Saturday.
“A large number of rocket bomb strikes have begun,” said the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s chief intelligence agency, after 12 cruise missiles were launched from six planes.
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Russia relied on Belarus before the invasion and initially could not use Kyiv as a base for military supply and reorganization. However, for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, missiles were launched from within Belarus’ territory.
According to officials, the missile is a long-range supersonic jet bomber developed by Russia and was launched using the Tu-22M3 fighter, which was first used during the war in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
According to intelligence data, the bomber took off from the Shaykovka Air Force Base about 190 miles southwest of Moscow. Russian troops then entered Belarusian airspace, fired at Ukrainian targets about 30 miles from the Belarusian border, and then returned to Russia.
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Another 24 missiles reportedly launched from within Belarus allegedly attacked a Ukrainian military target near Zhytomyr, an area less than 90 miles west of Kyiv, according to Ukrainian news agency Pravda. I reported first.
It is unclear what type of missile was used and whether Ukraine had any causal relationship on Saturday’s strike.
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The areas around Kyiv, Chernihiv and Smy in northern Ukraine have been targeted, suggesting that Russia is re-intensifying its attacks outside eastern and southern Ukraine.
“Today’s bombardment is directly related to the efforts of the Kremlin authorities to drag Belarus into the Ukrainian war as a direct participant,” intelligence agencies said in a Facebook post.
Ukraine has repeatedly urged Western nations to send more advanced fighters to catch up with Russia’s advanced airstrikes.