dpa
Kiev
President Volodymyr Zelensky has once again warned Belarus against entering the war against Ukraine.
In a video message issued on Saturday, Zelensky said that there had been unusual activity on the Belarusian side of the shared border on Friday. Kiev is monitoring the situation. “And if necessary, we will respond,” Zelensky warned. He did not provide any further details.
Back in April, Zelensky warned Minsk against participating in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Since then, Kiev has imposed new sanctions on Belarus, including against two sons of President Alexander Lukashenko.
During its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian military also advanced from the territory of its ally Belarus towards the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Belarus did not participate directly in the fighting, however.
Meanwhile, Zelensky has imposed sanctions on his former chief of staff, Andriy Bohdan. According to a published decree, the measures include the revocation of Bohdan’s state honours, the freezing of his assets and a ban on commercial transactions. The sanctions are initially set to remain in force for 10 years.
No official reason was given. Bohdan headed the Presidential Office from May 2019 to February 2020. Bohdan himself suggested on Facebook that the move may be linked to recent media reports alleging possible involvement by Zelensky and his wife, Olena Zelenska, in corrupt dealings.
He implied that the president suspects a connection between the publications and Bohdan’s work as a lawyer.
Meanwhile, a man and a woman were killed, and seven others were injured in a Russian drone attack on a minibus in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Kherson military governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on Saturday.
Those injured in the early morning attack included six men and a woman who were taken to hospital, Prokudin posted on his Telegram channel.