Russian President Vladimir Putin called on the phone on the night of Wednesday February 23 to Thursday February 24 his Belarusian counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko, informing him that he was going to launch a military operation in Ukraine, indicated the Belarusian presidency.
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“At around 5:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) today, a telephone conversation took place between the Belarusian and Russian presidents. During the call, Vladimir Putin informed his Belarusian colleague about the situation on the border with Ukraine and in the Donbass“, said the presidency in a press release. The Kremlin has not released any information about this phone call. Russia launched a military operation in the early hours of Thursday morning. Powerful explosions sounded in several cities across the country, with Kiev claiming that a “large-scale invasionwas in progress.