“Drones Reportedly Shot Down.” In a Village in Southern Belarus, People Talk About Strange Activity Near a “Military Tower”
Belarusian repeaters near the border have been making headlines for several weeks now. Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi stated on June 30 that after a complete shutdown, one repeater still turned on. But he expressed confidence that this would not happen again. As Zerkalo learned , residents of one of the villages in the south of the country heard something similar to explosions for two days.
What about the last repeater that “will no longer be turned on”?
Commander-in-Chief of the AFU Oleksandr Syrskyi stated in an interview that Ukrainian military personnel recorded one of the repeaters operating in Belarus on June 29. According to his information, the repeaters in Belarus have not yet been dismantled.
— I think they will no longer turn them on, — said the Commander-in-Chief of the AFU.
— Will they physically be unable to do it? — the journalist clarified.
— Well, I can't tell you everything. I think they will understand that it's not worth doing. Let's just say that, — Syrskyi stated.
He did not say what his confidence was based on. Was there any physical impact? Or did the military find a way to disable the repeater remotely? Or perhaps the two sides agreed? The AFU refused to clarify this point. The Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for Special Assignments could neither confirm nor deny the version of a possible strike.
“Drones Reportedly Shot Down”
Blogger Pavel Anushka on July 1 named a specific location — the village of Parechcha, Pinsk district, which is located approximately 35 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. According to the blogger, a repeater was “destroyed” in this village. However, he did not specify where he received this information from. Judging by the publications, he himself is not in that area.
A journalist from Zerkalo, acting as a concerned citizen, contacted a branch of one of the state organizations in the village of Parechcha.
“That was yesterday. And the day before yesterday. Drones were reportedly shot down,” said the employee who answered the call. “We have a military tower standing there, near the collective farmyard, if you know it. That's what they were shooting down. Yesterday three times, and the day before yesterday three times there was something like an explosion. Well, the military personnel there, probably, well… they see all this.”
At the time of the call — July 2 — according to her, the situation had stabilized.
“Everything has calmed down already, there was nothing today. Everything is quiet, people are going to the post office, to the shop, everywhere,” the interlocutor assured.
“There is a tower, it stands”
The journalist also contacted the local executive committee as a mother concerned about whether it was safe to send her child to a summer camp in Parechcha.
“Well, there's no danger at all,” they tried to reassure there. “We haven't received any official information either. There's a tower, it stands… Something unclear happened, but there is no official information. And that tower is located at a distance from this children's camp. That is, not even in that part of the village. So I think there's no need to worry.”
Judging by the data from cartographic services, Parechcha has a base station of the state provider beCloud, which is located slightly south of the village itself. On online maps, the structure looks like a tower. Judging by historical images, it appeared between 2017 and 2019.
An agricultural enterprise is located nearby. One can assume that this is what the interlocutor referred to as the “collective farmyard.”
Zelenskyy's Warning
On June 19, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Minsk should dismantle the repeaters which, according to Kyiv, help Russia adjust drone strikes on Ukrainian territory.
Later, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine was aware of four such objects in the Brest and Gomel regions and gave a week for their dismantling, warning that otherwise Ukraine might eliminate these objects independently.
On June 24, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that, according to the report of the Commander-in-Chief of the AFU and intelligence, the repeaters ceased operation in Belarus on June 22.
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