Andriy Demchenko, a representative of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, said the relays are switched on inside Belarus and feed the signal for Russian Shahed and Gerber drones, according to comments he gave to Ukrinform.
"As of today, Belarus is providing active assistance to Russia in shelling the territory of Ukraine. Including with relays that are switched on in Belarus and feed the signal for Russian 'Shaheds' and 'Gerbers'," the Ukrainian border service quoted him as saying.
Demchenko said Russian drones stay close to the border with Belarus in order to receive the signal and be able to penetrate deeper into Ukrainian territory, in particular into the western regions.
The relays also made possible an attack on the Yahodyn checkpoint on the border with Poland, Demchenko said. Russian forces struck a filling station near the checkpoint and a passenger train on the Kyiv-Warsaw railway line with drones. The date of the attack was not given in the report.
Demchenko separately said strikes on the Rivne, Volyn and Lviv regions were carried out effectively from the territory of Belarus, with air assets launched by Russia receiving the signal through relays in that country.
Border guards have not yet recorded a buildup of strike groupings on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, but the threat from Minsk remains, Demchenko said.
Meduza, citing the Razbor unit, writes that Ukraine has long said antennas located on the territory of Belarus form part of two-way video communication systems with Russian long-range drones of the Geran and Gerbera types. Russia and Ukraine use mesh networks to communicate with drones: UAVs with video cameras and special modems act as airborne relays for each other, allowing communication to be maintained over tens and hundreds of kilometers. They receive the primary signal from ground-based relays.
In February, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Vladimir Putin of dragging Belarus into the war, mentioning the deployment of relays. In mid-June, Zelensky demanded that Alexander Lukashenko remove the devices from the border, threatening: "if he does not do it, we will." Less than a week later, Zelensky said the relays had stopped working.
After that, the Belarusian authorities announced the creation of a new air assault brigade, which is to be stationed in the Gomel region near the border with Ukraine. The brigade's actual state of readiness is unclear from Minsk's statements, and its deployment is planned for next year.