Ukraine Alleges Belarus Resumed Relaying Russian Drones

Ukraine alleges that Belarus resumed relaying Russian drones after shutting the stations off in June. The suspected system boosts or preserves communications as Russian drones fly near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. That could extend the drones’ effective reach and support attacks farther inside Ukraine.

Ukrainian border guard spokesperson Andriy Demchenko said Belarus had activated purpose-built relay transmitters. He said Russian Shahed and Gerbera drones enter from Russia, skirt the border, maintain their signal, and then move toward Rivne, Volyn, and Lviv. Another Ukrainian adviser linked some tracks to Belarusian commercial LTE networks.

The allegation matters because it places Belarusian territory and infrastructure inside Russia’s drone-support system. Ukrainian officials said the assistance had operated at a fairly high level since the previous week. However, the article says public evidence does not establish whether the officials identified one system or two.

A signal-relay station is an intermediate communications point. It receives a drone’s radio signal and retransmits it, helping preserve contact between the aircraft and its operator. This matters because radio links weaken with distance, terrain, interference, or obstacles.

In the reported case, Ukrainian officials described transmitters on Belarusian territory. Demchenko said Russian drones could enter from Russia, follow the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, hold their signal, and then continue toward Rivne, Volyn, and Lviv. The relay would not necessarily control the drone itself; it would help carry commands or data farther.

The article also mentions a different possibility: Belarusian commercial LTE networks may have provided connectivity. Public evidence does not show whether that network and the purpose-built transmitters were the same system. The core allegation is that Belarusian infrastructure helped Russian drones operate deeper in Ukraine.

The provided excerpt does not state how many suspected relay transmitters the Ukrainian monitoring project E-radar had located in Belarus. That missing figure is important because a count would indicate the reported system’s apparent geographic spread. Without it, the scale of the alleged network cannot be measured from this text.

The excerpt does provide related details. Ukrainian officials said Belarus had switched on purpose-built transmitters, while another Ukrainian adviser connected drone tracks to Belarusian commercial LTE networks. These statements describe possible mechanisms, but they do not give an E-radar total.

The safest conclusion is that the number is unavailable in the supplied material. The article also warns that publicly available evidence has not established whether the reported LTE connectivity and purpose-built relays were one system or two. Any precise count would require information beyond this excerpt.

Belarusian territory could help Russian drones reach western Ukrainian regions that are farther from their launch or control areas. Ukrainian officials specifically named Rivne, Volyn, and Lviv. The concern is not only the regions themselves, but also the drones’ ability to approach Ukraine’s western edge and the Polish border.

Demchenko described a route in which Shahed and Gerbera drones entered from Russia, followed the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, maintained their communications, and then pushed into those Ukrainian regions. Serhii Beskrestnov separately assessed that some Shaheds probably connected to Belarusian commercial LTE networks.

This alleged assistance would give Russian attacks an additional path through Belarusian territory and infrastructure. It could complicate warning and defense planning across western Ukraine. The article presents the relay explanation as a claim supported by converging Ukrainian statements, not as a fully confirmed fact.

Belarus’s alleged assistance is strategically important because it may turn Belarusian territory into a support corridor for Russian drone operations. It could help drones preserve communications while moving toward western Ukraine, including areas near Poland. That expands the geographic problem beyond attacks around Ukraine’s central and eastern regions.

The article links this concern to a Russian drone that entered Lithuania from Belarus and was shot down by Italian Eurofighters. It also places the allegation beside Belarus’s exercise near the Polish and Lithuanian borders, whose tasks included communications and counter-drone work. These events occurred during the same period.

The broader risk is increased pressure along NATO’s eastern edge. The article later cites Belarusian balloons closing Vilnius Airport and warnings about possible Russian incidents involving NATO. Still, the relay claim remains unconfirmed, and the exercise itself showed no available evidence of an offensive move toward the Suwałki Corridor.

The relay claim rests on several pieces of evidence. Serhii Beskrestnov studied drone tracks and said Shaheds used in Belarus probably connected to Belarusian commercial LTE networks. Andriy Demchenko separately said Belarus had activated purpose-built transmitters that boosted signals for Russian Shahed and Gerbera drones.

Demchenko repeated on September 18 that relay use and Belarusian technological assistance had operated at a fairly high level since the previous week. The claims followed a large September 12 drone wave whose paths hugged the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. Together, these observations point toward possible Belarusian communications support.

But the article does not present independent confirmation. It says the two explanations may describe one system or two, and publicly available evidence has not settled that question. The allegations are therefore significant and mutually reinforcing, but they remain claims rather than an established fact.

Military drones use communications links to receive commands, send information, and sometimes accept route changes. Navigation systems help estimate position and follow the intended path. A preplanned route stores waypoints or other instructions before launch, so the aircraft does not need constant hands-on control for every moment of flight.

If the communications link weakens, the drone may continue using its navigation system and stored route. It can follow waypoints until contact returns or until the mission reaches a programmed stage. A relay station can help prevent that interruption by carrying signals between the drone and its operator over greater distance.

The supplied article does not describe the internal flight software of the Shahed or Gerbera drones. Therefore, the general explanation comes from established knowledge about military drones, not from a specific technical finding in the article. The article’s evidence concerns possible communications support, not the drones’ exact fallback behavior.