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Kremlin Denies Pressuring Belarus as Relay Stations Are Reported Silent

Kyiv says Belarus-based signal relay stations used to guide Russian drones have stopped operating and the change shifts focus to Minsk’s military ties and fuel support for Russia.

Overview

  • Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday denied a Wall Street Journal report that Moscow has threatened to cut support to force Belarus into a deeper combat role.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said relay stations in Belarus used to help guide Russian drones were targeted in his warning and reported on Monday that those stations had stopped working.
  • Belarusian opposition figure Pavel Latushka said the equipment appears switched off and urged full dismantling of the relay sites and a halt to all Belarus-based military drills.
  • Belarus has not sent its own troops to fight in Ukraine but has allowed Russian forces to use bases, taken part in joint exercises and hosted Russian tactical nuclear weapons, keeping Minsk a strategic staging partner.
  • Belarus’s two large refineries process Russian crude and shipments of gasoline and diesel to Russia have surged this year, strengthening economic ties that could shape Moscow’s leverage over Minsk and the conflict’s logistics.