Belarus boosts troops at border, summons diplomat after accusing Ukraine of airspace violation

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarus sent more troops to reinforce its border with Ukraine on Saturday, saying Ukrainian drones had violated its airspace in the course of Kyiv's military incursion into Russia's Kursk region.

Belarus' Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine's charge d'affaires, demanded measures to ensure such incidents would not recur and suggested a repeat would prompt Belarus to consider whether Kyiv's diplomatic presence in Minsk was "appropriate".

President Alexander Lukashenko, addressing a meeting in eastern Belarus, said air defence forces on Friday destroyed several of "about a dozen" Ukrainian drones after they violated Belarusian airspace in the Mogilev region bordering Russia.

Lukashenko, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies, said others were later destroyed near the Russian city of Yaroslavl.

"I don't understand why Ukraine had to do this. We have to look into it," the BelTA news agency quoted him as saying. "But we have...made ourselves clear and conveyed to them that any provocation will not go unanswered."

The state television channel Belarus1 showed footage of what it said were fragments of downed drones.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry, in comments also appearing on BelTA, said Minsk demanded "comprehensive measures" to ensure such incidents were not repeated.

"It was pointed out...that if Ukraine's diplomatic representation in Belarus cannot have an effect on preventing such provocations, the Belarusian side will raise the issue of the appropriateness of its continued presence in Minsk."

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation, a state body, wrote on Telegram that boosting arms deployments near the border was "an attempt to help Putin and divert the attention of Ukraine's command to this sector".

Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Defence Ministry said Russian forces had intercepted six drones in the Yaroslavl region.

"Considering the situation in Ukraine and in the Kursk region of Russia, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has given orders to reinforce troops in the Gomel and Mozyr tactical areas in order to respond to such provocations," Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin said.

"Special operations forces, ground troops and rocket forces, including Polonez and Iskander systems, have been tasked with deploying to the designated areas."

He said Belarus regarded the violation of its airspace as a provocation and "was ready to respond".

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Mark Potter, Guy Faulconbridge, Giles Elgood and Ron Popeski)