Belarus says downs Ukrainian reconnaissance drone

November 16, BPN. Border guards in the Brest region have shot down a drone flying from Ukraine, the Belarusian State Border Committee has said.

“The drone was shot down by a border unit with a Kalashnikov rifle. The quadracopter was equipped with a video camera and used for reconnaissance and filming border protection equipment in Belarus,” it said.

The committee said a similar incident took place on November 2 in the Homiel region.

On November 16, State Border Committee chairman Anatol Łapo said that “Ukraine’s efforts are focused on boosting the engineering barriers protecting the border,” that “the Ukrainian border with Belarus is mined” and that “almost all bridges leading to Homiel and Mazyr have been blown up.”

Minsk claims that Ukraine is preparing for an attack. Kyiv denies this, arguing that mining roads and reinforcing the border does not mean preparing an incursion.