Ukraine says Belarus leader was with Putin at time of ‘false-flag attack’

LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – An adviser to Ukraine’s president said on Friday Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as Russian jets carried out what Ukraine said was a false-flag attack on Belarusian villages.

Moscow did not immediately comment on a statement by Ukraine’s border service that several Belarusian border villages had been bombed by Russian warplanes to create a reason for Belarus to join Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“I believe that (the Belarusian military command) will do everything they can to avoid this scenario,” presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in a televised interview.