Belarus Downplays Severity Of Ukraine Missile Incident

Belarus' defence ministry has lowered tensions over a suspected stray Ukrainian air defence missile which landed in Belarussian territory this morning.

• The Ministry of Defence said its air defences shot down a Ukrainian S-300 missile in an empty agricultural field with no casualties reported.
• Military commissar Oleg Konovalov, said in a video message on the state-run BelTA news agency, that local residents had "absolutely nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, these things happen".
• Reuters reports that Konovalov, "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, and initial fears of an escalation in the war were rapidly defused."
• The incident happened near the village of Harbacha approximately 15 km (9 miles) from the Ukrainian border at 07:00 GMT 02:00 ET.
• The Belarussian Ministry of Defence said in a statement: "Fragments were found in an agricultural field ... During the verification process, it was established that the wreckage belongs to an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile fired from the territory of Ukraine."