Belarus' state-owned enterprises Earlier, the BelTA news agency reported that a Ukrainian S-300 missile had fallen onto Belarusian territory during one of Russia's most extensive missile attacks against Ukraine since the beginning of the war

Photo Credit : MoD Russia,

Belarus' defence ministry said Thursday that its air defences shot down a Ukrainian S-300 missile in a field during one of Russia's largest missile attacks against Ukraine since the war began.

Oleg Konovalov, the military commissar of the Brest region, downplayed the incident in a video message posted on social media by the state-run BelTA news agency, saying that local residents were to blame and that “there is nothing to be concerned about. Unfortunately, these things do occur.”

He compared the incident to one in November, when an S-300 believed to have strayed after being fired by Ukrainian air defences landed in NATO-member Poland, quickly dispelling initial fears of a war escalation.

The S-300 is a Soviet-era air defence system used by Russia and Ukraine. The missile was shot down near the village of Harbacha in the Brest region, about 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the Ukrainian border, the Belarus ministry said on Thursday.

“A fragment was discovered in an agricultural field… During the verification process, it was discovered that the wreckage belonged to an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile fired from Ukrainian territory,” the ministry said in a statement. 

The incident occurred at the same time that Russia launched its latest wave of missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.

BelTA released photos and video of what it claimed were S-300 missile parts lying in an empty agricultural field.

The defence ministry provided no information on casualties and stated that more detailed information would be provided in the near future.

Belarus permitted Moscow to use its territory as a launchpad for the February invasion of Ukraine, and there has been an increase in Russian and Belarusian military activity in recent months.

On the other hand, Minsk has insisted that it is not participating in the war and will not participate unless Ukraine or Ukraine's Western allies threaten its own security.

Ukraine has used the S-300 system to intercept incoming Russian missiles, while Russia appears to be using repurposed S-300 missiles to attack ground targets, which military analysts believe could be a sign that Russia's missile stockpile is depleting.