Russia using Belarusian LTE networks, relay stations for mass drone attacks on Ukraine, Kyiv says
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Russia is likely using Belarusian Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, as well as a network of repeater stations on Belarusian territory, to help provide stable signals to Russian Shahed-type drones used in mass attacks on Ukraine, two Ukrainian officials said on Sept. 14.
The revelation came two days after Russia sent hundreds of the petrol-powered drones, hugging Ukraine's northern border, in rare a mass attack targeting regions in western Ukraine on Sept. 12.
Speaking on a Radio NV livestream, Presidential Advisor Serhii "Flash" Beskretnov said the flight path of the drones used in the attack suggested the use of domestic mobile networks for the cross-border attacks.
"If we look at the movement of jet-powered and conventional 'Shaheds,' they stay close to the border with Belarus," he said.
"I came to the conclusion that the 'Shaheds' probably have connectivity to Belarusian commercial LTE networks."
Separately, on the same day, State Border Guard Service Spokesperson Andrii Demchenko told Ukrainian television that Russia was also using radio repeater stations in the attacks.
"The air strikes that targeted Rivne, Volyn, and Lviv oblasts were also actually carried out from the territory of Belarus," Demchenko said.
"The air assets launched by Russia were fed with a signal through repeaters that were also located precisely on the territory of this country."
The placement of such relay stations in Belarusian territory has been a cause of tension between Kyiv and Minsk, with President Volodymyr Zelensky in the summer issuing a formal ultimatum for the equipment to be taken down.
At the time, Zelensky claimed that counterpart Alexander Lukashenko had agreed to take down the repeaters.
Lacking access to technology like SpaceX's Starlink, Russia consistently uses a mix of innovative radio technology to maintain connection with Shahed-type drones during mass attacks on Ukraine.
