Putin arrives in Belarus for meeting with Lukashenko as war rages
Mike Brest
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Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down in Belarus for a sit-down with his counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on Monday.
Lukashenko, who has been in power for nearly three decades, represents Putin’s closest ally remaining, as he let Russian forces amass at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border ahead of their invasion last February, which provided them with a shorter distance for the troops to reach the capital of Kyiv.
The two have met in person multiple times since Russian forces invaded Ukraine last February, though this is the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic began that Putin has traveled to Belarus for the meeting.
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Lukashenko has not committed troops to Russia’s war in Ukraine, but Ukrainian officials have warned about a possible new offensive emanating from its northern neighbor, Belarus.
“During [these talks], questions will be worked out for further aggression against Ukraine and the broader involvement of the Belarusian armed forces in the operation against Ukraine, in particular in our opinion, also on the ground,” Ukrainian joint forces Cmdr. Serhiy Nayev said before Putin’s arrival.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that Belarus was Russia’s “number one ally” but that suggestions they are looking to pressure Minsk into joining the war were “stupid and unfounded fabrications.”
Defense Ministers Sergei Shoigu of Russia and Viktor Khrenin of Belarus also met during Monday’s meetings, which came as Russian forces launched their latest aerial assault against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that “several explosions” had been heard in Solomyanskyi and Shevchenkivskyi, while some of the city’s “critical infrastructure facilities were damaged,” leaving about 3% of consumers without heat, though the water supply system remained operating as expected.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces said that Russia launched 35 Iranian-made Shahed “kamikaze” drones from the “eastern coast of the Sea of Azov,” though they were able to intercept 30 of them.
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Russia launched one of its largest missile barrages since the war began last Friday as well. Ukraine’s ministry of defense said it had destroyed 60 of the 76 air and sea-based cruise missiles fired at targets across the country from Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv, as well as in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the central city of Kryvyi Rih, while Odesa, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, and Sumy all reported strikes.
In October, Russia changed its military strategy, directing its focus to destroying Ukraine’s energy infrastructure ahead of winter.
Since then, Russia has destroyed Ukraine’s energy grid, often leaving millions of Ukrainian civilians without power, heat, or running water. Winter has already started, and the country is experiencing subfreezing temperatures. Officials have warned that the system is on the verge of a major collapse, prompting the United States and allies to provide them with millions of dollars of aid specifically to help make those repairs.