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Ukrainian Air Force retracts report of Belarusian aircraft violating airspace

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Ukrainian Air Force retracts report of Belarusian aircraft violating airspace
Photo for illustrative purposes: Russian Air Force Yak-130 landing in Ryazan, Russia, after a mission during exercise Aviadarts 2016. (Daniele Faccioli/Stocktrek Images/Getty Images)

The Ukrainian Air Force retracted an earlier statement that an aerial target violated Ukrainian airspace from Belarus on the afternoon of Sept. 24.

The Air Force initially reported that a low-speed aerial target had crossed the border from Belarus near Kyiv and Zhytomyr oblasts at around 2:30 p.m. local time, heading south toward Kyiv Oblast.

Non-state military monitoring groups, including Belarusian Hajun and Monitor, also reported that a  Belarusian Yak-130 combat aircraft had entered Ukrainian airspace.

The plane reportedly crossed the Ukraine-Belarus border at 2:28 p.m. local time near the village of Dyatlyk in Belarus' Homel Oblast, which borders Ukraine's Chernihiv, Kyiv, and Zhytomyr oblasts.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the claims made by the monitoring groups.

Later in the day, Ukraine's Air Force said the detected object was likely a radar jammer, a false target.

Belarus, Moscow's closest ally, hosts Russian troops, missiles, and aircraft but is not directly involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said in an Aug. 15 interview that a third of Belarus' army had been moved to the Ukrainian border earlier this summer.

Speaking to Russia's Rossiya TV channel, Lukashenko claimed the move was in response to a buildup of Ukrainian troops, which he said was triggered by a misinterpretation of Belarus' preparations for its Independence Day celebrations on July 3.

With Ukrainian troops deep inside Russia, Belarus dictator Lukashenko sees direct threat to his regime
In the wake of a Ukrainian incursion in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko began to move his country’s Armed Forces closer to Ukraine’s borders. And Ukrainian officials began to pay attention to those movements. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry warned that Belarus is “concen…
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Kateryna Hodunova

News Editor

Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent. She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport. Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards. She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

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