Belarus-based relay stations allegedly used by Russia to help guide drone attacks against western and northern Ukraine have stopped operating, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marking a notable shift in Kyiv’s effort to reduce Minsk’s practical support for Moscow’s war.

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian military and intelligence reports showed that the equipment had ceased functioning from 22 June. He added that Kyiv had not yet confirmed whether the stations had been physically dismantled, but said that, as of now, the relevant repeaters were no longer working. The statement followed an earlier Ukrainian warning to Belarus that equipment installed on Belarusian territory was helping Russia conduct drone strikes against Ukraine.

The issue emerged after Zelenskyy publicly challenged Alexander Lukashenko’s claims that Belarus did not want to be drawn into Russia’s war. The Ukrainian president argued that statements were insufficient and that Minsk should demonstrate its position through concrete action. His first demand was that Belarus remove or disable the relay stations used by Russian forces.

According to the Ukrainian presidency, Kyiv had identified four such signal relay stations in Belarus, specifically in the Gomel and Brest regions. Zelenskyy said the equipment had made possible strikes on Zhytomyr, Rivne and Volyn regions, including attacks on energy infrastructure, railway facilities and civilian areas.

Belarus is becoming Russia’s forward platform against Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank

The latest statement suggests that Kyiv’s warning had an effect. Ukraine had previously indicated that, if Belarus failed to act, it would deal with the equipment itself. That position increased pressure on Lukashenko, who has attempted to maintain the public argument that Belarus is not a direct participant in the war, despite allowing Russia to use Belarusian territory and infrastructure.

Belarus has not committed its own regular forces to combat in Ukraine, but its role remains material. Russia used Belarusian territory during the opening phase of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, and Kyiv has continued to accuse Minsk of enabling Russian operations. The relay-station issue adds a technical and operational dimension to that accusation: Belarusian territory was allegedly being used not only as strategic depth, but as part of the guidance system for drone attacks.

Zelenskyy has also connected the issue to the wider role of Belarusian industry in Russia’s war economy. In the same official address, he said Ukraine knew of Belarusian plants supplying components for Russian weapons, including armoured vehicles and missile systems. He also said fuel supplies from Belarus to Russia had increased sharply, with petrol supplies rising thirteenfold from January to May compared with the same period last year, while diesel supplies had tripled.

That makes the Mozyr oil refinery, one of Belarus’s key energy assets, a central point in the wider calculation. Ukrainian analysis has increasingly focused on whether facilities supporting Russian military logistics could become vulnerable if Minsk continues to assist Moscow. The refinery’s importance lies not only in its economic value to Belarus, but in its potential contribution to Russian fuel supply chains at a time when Ukraine has intensified long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.

For Lukashenko, the risk is both military and domestic. Belarusian society has shown limited appetite for direct involvement in Russia’s war, and the political consequences of the 2020 protests still shape the regime’s security outlook. Lukashenko has sought to present himself as a leader who prevents Belarus from being pulled into open conflict. If Belarusian infrastructure becomes a target because it assists Russian strikes, that argument becomes more difficult to sustain.

For Putin, the relay-station episode also raises escalation questions. Moscow could accuse Ukraine of threatening Belarusian sovereignty, as the Kremlin has already done, but its practical options are constrained. Russia has already struggled to protect occupied Crimea, its own refineries and other logistics nodes from Ukrainian long-range attacks. Its ability to shield Belarusian infrastructure is therefore uncertain.

The shutdown also points to a wider Ukrainian strategy. Kyiv is not seeking only to intercept Russian drones after launch; it is attempting to disrupt the systems that make those attacks possible. That includes launch sites, command links, relay systems, fuel supply chains, production facilities and logistics corridors. Belarus, by hosting or enabling some of those systems, becomes part of that campaign even without deploying troops.

The immediate question is whether the relay stations have merely been switched off or permanently removed. A temporary shutdown would leave open the possibility that Russia could restore the system. Physical dismantling would indicate a more serious Belarusian attempt to avoid escalation with Ukraine.

Either way, the episode demonstrates that Minsk is no longer being treated by Kyiv as a passive rear area for Russia. Ukraine is signalling that Belarusian support for Russian military operations carries direct risk. If the relay stations remain inactive, it may be the first example of Ukrainian pressure forcing Belarus to limit a specific form of assistance to Moscow. If they are reactivated, Kyiv’s earlier warning is likely to return quickly.