Zelenskiy again urges Belarus to dismantle relay stations

June 20 - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged authorities in neighbouring Belarus for the second day running to dismantle relay stations he said were playing a role in staging Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian regions.

Belarus, under longtime President Alexander Lukashenko, has been one of Moscow's closest allies in the more than four-year-old war against Ukraine and allowed the Kremlin to use its territory to launch the February 2022 invasion.

Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has repeatedly said he wants no further involvement in the conflict, but Zelenskiy has urged Belarus to prove that it will not provide direct support for Moscow's war effort.

Zelenskiy did not refer directly to Lukashenko in his nightly video address and alluded to his contested re-election to new terms in office. But he said Ukraine knows of four relay stations in Belarus assisting Russian military activity.

"Belarus still has time to dismantle this equipment. We also know about every factory in Belarus that works for Russia and supports the war," he said.

"Ukraine does not want this and we have warned the de facto leadership of Belarus which has influence over these developments."

On Friday, Zelenskiy said a week should give Lukashenko sufficient time to remove relay equipment from his country and added a threat of Ukrainian action if Lukashenko did not do so.

"If he doesn't do it, we'll do it," Zelenskiy said on Friday, without elaborating.

In his latest remarks on Belarus, Zelenskiy again alluded to Belarus's large oil refining sector and the role he said it played in Russia's war effort.

He said that from January until May, gasoline supplies from Belarus to Russia increased by 13 times compared with the same period last year, while diesel supplies tripled.

"Unfortunately, this helps Russia adapt to pressure and does not bring peace any closer," he said. "It should be the opposite: peace should be brought closer."

Ukraine's military is engaged in a campaign of medium and long-range drone strikes mainly targeting Russia's oil industry as part of efforts to hobble Russia's war efforts. REUTERS