Ukrainian official refutes reports that he pledged Belarus won’t be struck

September 19, BPN. An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, Oleksiy Arestovych, denies saying that Ukraine will not fire any shells at Belarus.

Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja’s press office quoted him as assuring the Belarusian opposition leader that not a single Ukrainian projectile will hit her country’s territory.

“It was a warning that joint efforts should be made to prevent Belarusians from being dragged into this war directly,” Arestovych told a Ukrainian YouTube channel.

He said Łukašenka’s rule was ending, and Kyiv did not want “to leave the memory of Ukrainians killing Belarusians.”

“We do not want a single shell to explode in Belarusian territory,” he said.

On February 24, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Authorities in Minsk deny Belarusian army troops’ involvement in combat operations on the Russian side. However, Belarus allowed Russian troops and weapons to move freely through the country, use its airspace, refuel and store military equipment and attack Ukraine from its territory.

A 20,000-strong grouping of Russian forces crossed into Ukraine from Belarus at the outset of the war, Alaksandr Łukašenka told AFP in an interview on July 21. Russian troops retreated from northern Ukraine later.