Zelenskyy warns Russia seeks to base ballistic missiles in Belarus to strike western Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Saturday that Russia is preparing to intensify its strikes on western Ukraine and is pressing Belarus to host Russian ballistic missile systems for that purpose.

Speaking to journalists on 17 October, Zelenskyy said he was convinced Moscow was planning an escalation. “Is there a threat of strikes and an increase in attacks on the western part of our country? Absolutely. Is Russia preparing for this? I think so,” he said, according to Ukrinform.

He said Russia is already using signal repeaters on Belarusian territory to guide drones toward western Ukraine — a claim separately supported by Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, who said Belarus hosts signal transmission and amplification equipment used by Shahed and Geran-type drones heading toward western Ukraine and the Polish border area, the Kyiv Independent reported.

But that was not enough for Moscow, Zelenskyy said: “They need Lukashenko’s support so that other types of weapons, including ballistic missiles, can be deployed on Belarusian territory.” He said such a deployment would primarily threaten western Ukraine and would amount to “direct involvement of Belarus in this war” — “very dangerous”, he added, including for Belarus itself.

Zelenskyy also said Ukraine is reinforcing air defences in the regions most at risk: “We’re strengthening our defenses based on the principle that where there are more strikes, there will be more air defense.”