Armed Conflict — 2026-09-17

Russia Using Belarusian LTE Networks and Relay Stations to Guide Mass Drone Attacks on Ukraine

BLUFBelarus's reactivation of relay infrastructure on its own soil very likely ensures continued guided drone strikes near NATO's border through mid-October, complicating Ukrainian response options.

Colonel Andrii Demchenko, spokesman for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, said on September 14 that recent Russian drone strikes on Rivne, Volyn and Lviv oblasts were guided by signals relayed through stations on Belarusian territory 1. Demchenko added on September 16 that Belarus has reactivated relay transmitters that boost signals for Russian Shahed and Gerbera drones, and said the reactivated relays enabled a September 13 strike on a gas station and passenger train near the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland 2. Separately, presidential technology adviser Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov told Radio NV that Shahed drones equipped with dual LTE modems and Russian-operator SIM cards appear to connect to Belarusian commercial LTE networks with roaming access, transmitting telemetry on Ukrainian electronic-warfare coverage rather than being remotely piloted through them 3. Beskrestnov distinguished this commercial-network telemetry link from the military relay/repeater systems described by Ukrainian border guards 3. Demchenko said border guards have not recorded any buildup of Russian or Belarusian assault forces near the border despite the continued relay activity 1.

Analysis
Shifting drone-guidance infrastructure onto Belarusian soil complicates Ukrainian retaliation options and hands Minsk deniable leverage over the corridor toward Poland's border, an implication sharpened by the Yahodyn strike reaching NATO's frontier rather than just western Ukraine's interior. Belarus reportedly reactivated relays that Kyiv had earlier forced offline in June, and Beskrestnov now separates a distinct commercial-LTE telemetry channel, possibly passive exploitation of unrestricted Belarusian roaming rather than deliberate coordination, from the military relay network border guards describe. Attribution rests on a single Border Guard spokesman corroborated only by outlets repackaging the same Ukrainska Pravda and Ukrinform originals, yielding moderate confidence given consistent official language but one-source reliance on the causal claim. Ukrainian officials will very likely attribute at least one additional strike to Belarusian relay or LTE support before October 15, since the network remains active with no compensating force buildup. Further confirmed strikes would give Kyiv grounds to threaten or strike Belarusian territory directly, while their absence leaves Western partners little basis to press Minsk on sanctions.

5 sources