Russian forces are preparing to intensify strikes against western Ukrainian regions, increasingly drawing Belarus into the war by installing drone signal repeaters and seeking to deploy ballistic missile batteries on Belarusian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists.
Zelensky explained that Moscow is already utilizing Belarusian soil to establish drone transit corridors into western Ukraine and is actively pressing Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko for permission to base advanced ballistic missile systems within the country.
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“This is not enough for them. They need Lukashenko’s support so that other weapon types, including ballistics, are based on the territory of Belarus,” Zelensky said.
“Undoubtedly, the deployment of ballistics in Belarus will pose a threat primarily to the western part of our state.”
The Ukrainian head of state stressed that the risk of expanding aerial strikes targeting western provinces is acute and that Russian President Vladimir Putin possesses concrete operational blueprints to initiate such attacks, cautioning that deploying ballistic launchers from Belarus would represent Minsk’s direct military entry into active hostilities.
Targeting of ports, water utilities, and bridges
Zelensky observed that the Kremlin’s strategic targeting parameters remain fixed on systematically destroying Ukrainian life-support networks and maritime commerce ahead of the winter heating season.
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According to the president, Russian forces continue to prioritize strikes against electricity networks, municipal water distribution systems, civilian river bridges, and commercial port infrastructure across the Black Sea littoral.
“They have struck, are striking, and will continue to strike and blockade port infrastructure in the Black Sea,” Zelensky told reporters. “Unfortunately, they have struck and are striking our energy and everything connected to water supply.”
Zelensky highlighted that key transit bridges remain regular targets of Russian loitering munitions and cruise missiles, noting that while Ukrainian air defenses intercept the majority of incoming threats, munitions periodically penetrate protective envelopes.
“We shoot down everything we can, but we also see what gets through,” Zelensky said. “We need to respond to their strikes. If we show weakness, nothing will stop him. He will demand capitulation, although even that will not be enough for him.”
The president reiterated that deterrence and reciprocal pressure remain the only viable mechanisms to halt Russian escalation and compel Moscow to accept an enforceable ceasefire.
Drone signal repeaters and Minsk’s ‘co-aggressor’ role
The deployment of radio and cellular signal repeaters across southern Belarus allows Russian military operators to maintain stable command-and-control links with long-range strike drones navigating at low altitudes, effectively transforming Belarusian airspace into a staging vector to strike western Ukrainian logistics corridors.
The warning unfolds against a backdrop of deep strategic integration between Moscow and Minsk. On Oct. 2, Lukashenko openly described himself and Putin as “co-aggressors” during a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, affirming that Belarus remains unconditionally aligned with the Kremlin’s military campaign.
“In the end, we are ‘co-aggressors’ with him. We have one question, which we sometimes discuss jokingly: who is more of an ‘aggressor’ – me or him?” Lukashenko stated at the time, pledging that Belarusian authorities would back any strategic decision made by Moscow.
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