Ukraine says Belarus has reactivated signal repeaters boosting Russian drone strikes
Ukraine's State Border Guard Service says Belarus has switched back on signal repeaters on its territory that boost Russian Shahed and Gerber drones, allowing them to penetrate deeper into western Ukraine, including an attack on the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland. Spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said the repeaters had previously been turned off after a presidential warning to Belarus, but are now active again. He added that no offensive grouping is currently massed near the border.
Key points
- Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, said Belarus is actively assisting Russia in shelling Ukrainian territory.
- Repeaters on Belarusian territory boost signals for Russian Shahed and Gerber drones, letting them penetrate deeper into Ukraine.
- Russian drones enter from Russian territory and stay near the Belarus border to receive the boosted signal.
- The recent attack on the Yahodyn crossing point with Poland was carried out with the support of Belarusian repeaters, according to Demchenko.
- Russia uses the repeater support to attack western oblasts including Rivne, Volyn, and Lviv.
- Belarus had previously turned the repeaters off after a warning from President Zelensky about the unacceptability of supporting Russia, but has now turned them back on.
- Demchenko said there is currently no buildup of a strike group on the Belarusian side ready to invade Ukraine near the border.
Why it matters
Belarusian repeater support extends the effective range of Russian Shahed and Gerber drones, allowing strikes deep into western Ukraine and at a major border crossing with Poland. The reactivation reverses a prior de-escalation that followed direct Ukrainian presidential warnings, signalling renewed Belarusian facilitation of Russian attacks and keeping the northern direction threatening even without an offensive buildup on the ground.
What happened
Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, said Belarus has turned signal repeaters back on inside its territory that boost the guidance signal for Russian Shahed and Gerber drones. He said the drones loiter near the Belarus border to pick up the boosted signal before striking deeper into Ukraine, including the western oblasts of Rivne, Volyn and Lviv. Demchenko said the recent Russian attack on the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland, located in Volyn Oblast, was carried out with Belarusian repeater support. He noted that Belarus had previously switched the repeaters off after President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly warned that supporting Russia with functioning repeaters was unacceptable, but that they are now active again. Demchenko added that, despite the northern direction remaining threatening, there is currently no offensive grouping massed on the Belarusian side of the border ready to carry out an invasion.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All three sources covering the statement are Ukrainian — the agency Ukrinform and the outlets Suspilne Novyny and Novynarnia — and all centre the Border Guard Service spokesperson's account. The coverage frames Belarus as actively assisting Russian strikes and presents the Yahodyn attack as enabled by Belarusian repeaters. It also foregrounds a sequence in which a Ukrainian presidential warning produced a temporary pause before Belarus reactivated the repeaters, emphasising that the threat from the northern direction persists even without an offensive buildup.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on the spelling of the Border Guard spokesperson's first name, referring to him as both 'Andriy' and 'Andrii'.
Background
In late June, President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly warned Belarus to dismantle repeaters on its territory that were being used to guide Russian strikes, giving a one-week deadline. Zelensky subsequently reported that the repeaters had stopped operating, but the Border Guard Service now says they have been switched back on. Yahodyn is a border crossing point in Volyn Oblast on the border with Poland. The Border Guard Service notes the Belarusian direction remains threatening but says there is currently no offensive grouping massed near the border for an invasion.