NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS AND WORLDWIDE
Missile debris at the drop site
MINSK, 30 December (BelTA) – The warhead of the Ukrainian S-300 missile, which dropped in Belarus on 29 December, was destroyed the next day, 30 December, BelTA has learned.
BelTA reported earlier that air defense units detected and destroyed an aerial target at about 10:00 on 29 December. The debris of the missile was found in a crop field outside the village of Gorbakha, Ivanovo District, Brest Oblast. Preliminary findings indicate the debris belonged to an S-300 air defense guided missile fired from Ukraine's territory. A team of specialists of the Investigative Committee and the Defense Ministry was put together upon the Belarus president's instructions and worked at the missile drop site.
Defense Ministry: The Ukrainian missile was destroyed after crossing Belarus' border
An air defense missile battery commander said that the battery's radar surveillance unit detected an aerial target moving from Ukraine's territory at about 10:00 today. The battery started tracking the target as a result of precise and smooth actions of the crew.
Belarus' Investigative Committee collects Ukrainian missile debris for examination
Preliminary findings indicate the debris belongs to an S-300 air defense guided missile. The examination of the site continues, witnesses are being interviewed. Detailed records of the site are being made. Objects of significance for the investigation and consequent forensic studies are being collected.
Ukraine's ambassador summoned to Belarus' foreign ministry over missile incident
Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus Igor Kizim was summoned to the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to receive a strong demarche in connection with the missile incident, Press Secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anatoly Glaz told reporters, BelTA has learned.
Belarusian villager talks about loud clap ahead of Ukrainian missile's arrival
“I heard a clap in the air and even crouched. I wondered what it was. A couple of minutes later I saw something, possibly a splinter spinning and falling about 100 meters away from the vegetable plot. I was curious to find out what it was. I went out searching for something but didn't find anything,” the man said.
Gorbakha villager shaken by shockwave upon Ukrainian missile's drop
One of the locals said: “There was a wave. A sound wave and a shock wave. I was leaving my home right then and was even shaken a bit. Then we went out to look and saw a missile lying around.”
Locals talk about situation in Gorbakha after Ukrainian missile incident
In Gorbakha itself, where the wreckage of a Ukrainian missile landed the day before, everything is calm today. In the morning people went to work, got busy with their routine household chores.
Defense Ministry: S-300 incident in Belarus could be a provocation by Ukraine
The Defense Ministry is considering two versions: an unintentional launch of the anti-aircraft guided missile because of the poor training of the crew or because of a missile malfunction, or it could be a deliberate provocation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry ready to investigate missile incident in Belarus
According to the source, Ukraine reserves the right to protect its own air space. Yet the country is ready to carry out a full and objective investigation into the situation that happened in Belarus' air space on 29 December.
