Trump paused Russia sanctions to ‘analyse’ impact on global economy

President Volodymyr Zelensky cautioned on October 17 that Russia might leverage Belarus to escalate missile and drone assaults on western Ukraine, thereby placing the region increasingly at risk. The Ukrainian leader suggested that Russia was already leveraging drone signal repeaters in Belarus and that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin required Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's backing to station additional ballistic missiles in the country.

Zelensky emphasized that this represented direct involvement of Belarus in the conflict, which he deemed highly dangerous for both nations.

Ukraine's State Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko independently reported that equipment stationed in Belarus assists in relaying or amplifying signals for Russian Shahed and Geran drones targeting western Ukraine and the border region of Poland. In September, Ukraine's military intelligence chief Oleh Ivashchenko disclosed that units of Russia's 101st Missile Brigade, armed with the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile system, had been deployed to Belarus.

Zelensky also announced that Ukraine would bolster air defenses nationwide, allocate them based on the severity of threats, and expand the production of defensive turrets.