{"id":567752,"date":"2026-08-12T19:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T16:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=567752"},"modified":"2026-08-13T12:08:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T09:08:05","slug":"versions-of-another-incident-on-the-belarusian-russian-border-iranian-connection-new-provocation-by-moscow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/versions-of-another-incident-on-the-belarusian-russian-border-iranian-connection-new-provocation-by-moscow","title":{"rendered":"Versions of Another Incident on the Belarusian-Russian Border: Iranian Connection, New Provocation by Moscow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The \u201cKrasny Kamen\u201d checkpoint on the Russian-Belarusian border suspended operations yesterday. It was reportedly due to a drone strike. What is surprising is not so much that heavy trucks were attacked on a stretch of road that has long been unsafe, but the silence from official Minsk, which has not yet responded to the incident in any way. What could be the reasons for the \u201csilence mode\u201d being activated, and what versions can be put forward in connection with another drone attack on this border crossing?<\/p>\n

Dangerous \u201cKrasny Kamen\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Russian border checkpoint \u201cKrasny Kamen\u201d is located in the Bryansk region on the A-240 highway. On the Belarusian side is the M-10 highway and the \u201cSelishche\u201d checkpoint. Gomel is just a short distance away \u2014 about 45 kilometers.<\/p>\n

It was at this border crossing that a Belarusian bus came under attack<\/a> in early July this year while traveling from Minsk to Anapa. According to the Belarusian Health Ministry, three people were injured at the time \u2014 two drivers and a passenger<\/a>. The \u201cKrasny Kamen\u201d checkpoint also suspended operations after the incident.<\/p>\n

At the same time, if Belarusian television reports are to be believed, Belarusian trucks were also hit<\/a> by a drone that time. \u201cThree Belarusian trucks were also damaged, one of which burned down completely,\u201d<\/em> domestic propagandists claimed.<\/p>\n

And in June this year, a Belarusian bus carrying children came under a drone attack<\/a> in Russia\u2019s Bryansk region while traveling to the Russian resort city of Gelendzhik. However, the incident did not occur directly at the border, but approximately halfway from the border toward Bryansk. Nevertheless, both incidents, whoever was behind them (and we will return to this issue later), indicate that the southern section of the Belarusian-Russian border has become an unsafe route.<\/p>\n

One or Several<\/b><\/h2>\n

Information about yesterday\u2019s events is contradictory. As the Russian Telegram channel Shot reported<\/a>, a Ukrainian FPV drone attacked one truck, and there were no casualties in the incident. This information was also reported by several Russian and Belarusian media outlets.<\/p>\n

However, yesterday the Turkish news agency IHA published a video from the Russian-Belarusian border<\/a> filmed, according to reports, by Turkish drivers. The footage shows a truck burning on the roadside, as well as a tractor unit with a damaged cab in a parking area near the border. In the video, a driver says that the strike hit not one but several trucks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey hit the vehicle, the vehicle is on fire. <\/i><…> A drone struck here right before our eyes. This is the third or fourth vehicle that was hit,\u201d<\/i> the driver says in the video.<\/p>\n

According to IHA, there were deaths and injuries as a result of the strike \u2014 Iranian and Belarusian citizens.<\/p>\n

Ensonhaber quotes two drivers who witnessed the strike. One says that drones hit two Iranian vehicles and then struck a Belarusian truck. He also claims that two Belarusian servicemen were injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were traveling from Russia through the Gomel border crossing. When we were processing our documents, the Ukrainian drone attack began. Two Iranian vehicles exploded completely. When we tried to escape, they hit the Belarusian vehicle traveling in front of us<\/i>,\u201d the driver claims.<\/p>\n

According to another eyewitness, the attack began at around 7 a.m. while the drivers were sleeping.<\/p>\n

\u201cSilence Mode\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n

If the Turkish drivers\u2019 accounts are to be believed, yesterday\u2019s drone attack in the Belarusian-Russian border area had serious consequences. That makes the prolonged silence from the relevant Belarusian authorities all the more surprising.<\/p>\n

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry and senior officials are silent. Propaganda outlets are silent. The website<\/a> of the State Border Committee is silent about the incident at the border crossing and its closure.<\/p>\n

And this is strange, given that the drone strike reportedly affected not only a Belarusian heavy truck but, according to eyewitnesses, also injured Belarusian servicemen.<\/p>\n

BelTA is reporting on both the repairs at the Brest border crossing<\/a> and the Latvian \u201cWerewolf\u201d operation<\/a> on the border with our country. But there is silence about the \u201cKrasny Kamen\u201d and \u201cSelishche\u201d crossings.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, the Iranian side is also silent. Yet only recently, Tehran loudly accused Kyiv of attacking a merchant vessel in the Caspian Sea<\/a>. It threatened retaliatory strikes. Now it demands<\/a> compensation from Kyiv for the incident. Yet in the case of the supposedly Iranian trucks, there is silence on IRNA as well.<\/p>\n

Kyiv is also silent. There have been no confirmations or denials of the attack, although in the case of the Belarusian buses, the Ukrainian General Staff immediately called<\/a> such claims \u201cfalse and fabricated<\/i>.\u201d The commander of the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert \u201cMadyar\u201d Brovdi<\/b>, is also silent. He often reports on his Facebook page about successful Ukrainian drone attacks on important targets.<\/p>\n

Perhaps fear has magnified the incident, and the Turkish drivers saw something that did not actually happen? Or perhaps they embellished their accounts? There is only one burned truck in the video, while the damage to the tractor unit\u2019s cab could have resulted from the strike on it. The casualties could also have been a frightened misperception.<\/p>\n

So, let us accept the possibility that the Turkish drivers exaggerated what happened as one possible version. But let us not rule out others. After all, the parties affected may have no interest at all in drawing unnecessary attention to the incident. And each of them may have their own reasons for that.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian Armed Forces Raid?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Could the Ukrainian Armed Forces have struck heavy trucks on the Belarusian-Russian border? This possibility cannot be ruled out. Especially if we assume that the Iranian trucks were carrying cargo intended for the Russian army. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/b> also explained the recent attack on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea by the transportation of \u201cmilitary cargo involving Iran<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Belarusian truck could simply have been hit by accident. Heavy trucks are packed closely together at parking areas and in border queues. In the event of a drone attack, an explosion is highly likely to damage neighboring tractor-trailers as well.<\/p>\n

Information about Iran providing Russia with weapons and components has repeatedly attracted attention. If the Iranian trucks were indeed carrying important cargo, the Ukrainian Armed Forces could well have taken the opportunity to destroy it. This version should not be dismissed either.<\/p>\n

In that case, Iran may remain silent to avoid drawing additional attention to its assistance to the Russian army. It could also possibly have involved the transportation of certain sanctioned goods from one of the Western countries \u2014 the destroyed trucks may have been traveling from an EU country. We have no grounds to state this directly, but there is also no reason to completely rule out such a possibility. One or two trucks are not a ship, and the losses would be insignificant for the Iranian regime. Tehran has little concern for its drivers, just as it has little concern for its own people, whom the country\u2019s authorities have killed by the thousands during protests.<\/p>\n

For Ukraine, this would also be a routine action as part of the ongoing war. There is no reason to blame the Ukrainians for carrying out such strikes \u2014 the country is defending itself against aggression. This includes strikes against the enemy\u2019s logistics.<\/p>\n

In that case, the silence of both Iran and Ukraine would be quite understandable. But why has official Minsk not responded to what happened?<\/p>\n

Another Provocation?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Aliaksandr Lukashenka<\/b> reacted rather cautiously to the drone strike on a passenger bus carrying children traveling to Gelendzhik. Unlike Russian officials, who immediately and unequivocally blamed Ukraine, the Belarusian politician said he was in no hurry to draw any conclusions.<\/p>\n

Yes, Ukraine was asked to provide explanations, and a protest note was handed to its charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires. But overall, Minsk\u2019s reaction boiled down to a warning not to travel through the dangerous border area. And to stay away from Russia\u2019s Bryansk region.<\/p>\n

At a UN Security Council meeting devoted to the attack on the Belarusian bus carrying children, Belarus\u2019 Permanent Representative to the UN Valiantsin Rybakou<\/strong>\u00a0said that it had been carried out by a Ukrainian-made drone<\/a>. At the same time, Belarus\u2019 permanent representative did not say who had actually attacked the bus.<\/p>\n

The Belarusian side behaved in much the same way during the second bus incident. \u201cThe Belarusian bus was not specifically selected for, so to speak, a target. It was a bus moving randomly through the territory of the Bryansk region, and a drone happened to fall on the road between two highways<\/i>,\u201d Belarusian Security Council State Secretary Aliaksandr Valfovich<\/b>\u00a0said<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n

In other words, in both cases the Belarusian regime sought to avoid escalating relations with Ukraine. At least in the immediate aftermath, yesterday\u2019s attack on the trucks has also gone without comment.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is not because the regime is afraid of confronting Kyiv. It may be because Minsk suspects \u2014 and perhaps even knows \u2014 where these attacks are coming from. It may understand that they are Russian provocations aimed at drawing Belarus deeper into the war. Getting Ukrainian-made drones and launching them at the desired targets would not be a difficult task for the Russians. Many captured weapons end up in the hands of the opposing side during a war. But there is an even simpler option \u2014 buying what is needed through front companies abroad.<\/p>\n

After the second bus incident in the border area, we wrote that this provocation might not be the last. Less than a month and a half has passed.<\/p>\n

This version is also supported by the fact that Russian methods have never been known for their scruples. The Iranian trucks fit the picture too \u2014 Russian logic may be: show Tehran the evil Ukrainians, and perhaps it will provide us with more assistance. With one drone, hit two birds with one stone \u2014 a Belarusian one and an Iranian one.<\/p>\n

Moscow is clearly pushing Lukashenka to become more active and take a full-fledged part in the war. Minsk sees this. But, unable simply to tell the Kremlin to get lost, it prefers to turn a blind eye to what is happening. To reassure itself, it busies itself with all sorts of things \u2014 creating battalion tactical groups<\/a> out of negligent officials and specialists, an academy of intelligent technologies<\/a> and \u201cdead\u201d fertilizers<\/a>. Just like in the famous film: if you cannot stop a destroyer, look for a button.<\/p>\n

The question is how long Lukashenka will be able to ignore Russian provocations. If we proceed from the version that Moscow was behind these incidents, it will not stop with buses and trucks. Who knows what kind of \u201cbloodbath\u201d our ally could unleash in the autumn? What if Lukashenka still fails to understand the \u201cbroad hints,\u201d and Russia decides to mobilize and escalate the war?<\/p>\n