Kyiv says Belarus reactivated relays that helped Russian drones strike a gas station and passenger train near Ukraine’s border with Poland

Belarus has once again activated relays near its border that help guide Russian drones to their targets, according to Andriy Demchenko, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service.“As of now, Belarus is actively helping Russia carry out strikes on Ukrainian territory. This includes relay transmitters that are switched on in Belarus and boost the signal for Russian ‘Shahed’ and ‘Gerbera’ drones.”Ukraine has long maintained that Belarus hosts antennas for two-way video communication systems used by Russian long-range Geran and Gerbera drones attacking Kyiv. Like Ukraine’s military, Russia’s military uses mesh networks to maintain video links with its drones. Camera-equipped UAVs fitted with special modems serve as airborne relays for one another, allowing operators to communicate with them from tens or hundreds of kilometers away. But the initial signal comes from ground-based relays. Ukraine believes Russia’s mesh-network relays for the Kyiv area are located in Belarus.Demchenko said drones arriving from Russia stay close to the Belarusian border so they can receive a signal before flying deeper into Ukrainian territory — particularly into the country’s western regions.Demchenko also said the relays enabled the overnight attack on the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland on September 13. Russian forces used drones to strike a gas station near the crossing and a passenger train on the Kyiv–Warsaw rail line.In mid-June, Volodymyr Zelensky demanded that Alexander Lukashenko remove the relays used to guide Russian drone attacks from the border with Ukraine, and issued a threat: “If he doesn’t do it, we will.” Less than a week later, the Ukrainian president said the relays had stopped working.Caught between Kyiv’s ultimatums and Moscow’s financial blackmail, Lukashenko faces mounting pressure over the war in UkraineAt Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.