Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visited the site of the Russian strike in Kyiv on Monday and accused Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko of sharing responsibility for the attack.
In a post on X, she said Russia was attempting to break Ukrainians through sustained attacks, adding that each strike “exposes the true essence of the Putin regime.”
“The Lukashenko regime bears its share of responsibility for this, because it allowed the territory of Belarus to be used for aggression, for launching missiles and for deploying Russian weapons,” Tsikhanouskaya said.
She added that Belarusians support Ukraine because “we feel this pain as our own.”
On Sunday morning, Russian forces launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine. According to Ukrainian officials, 90 missiles and 600 drones were fired, with 55 missiles and 549 drones intercepted.
Kyiv was the main target. According to authorities, 87 people were injured, including three children, and two people were killed.
Damage was reported across several districts of the capital, including residential buildings, schools and a market near the Lukianivska metro station. Cultural sites, including the Chornobyl museum in Kyiv’s Podil district, were also damaged.
Tsikhanouskaya arrived in Kyiv on Monday for her first visit to Ukraine after the weekend’s attack, at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
She is expected to meet with Ukrainian officials and take part in the International Summit of Cities and Regions, an annual event that rallies international support for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
In a separate post on X, Tsikhanouskaya said her visit began with a tribute to Belarusian activist Maria Zaitseva, who died fighting for Ukraine.
“For me, Maria is a symbol of a new generation of Belarusians – people who understand that the freedom of Belarus and the freedom of Ukraine are inseparable,” she added.
Tsikhanouskaya also visited the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the abandoned city of Pripyat during her trip to Ukraine, describing the experience as “extremely difficult and emotional.”
In a post on X, she said the empty streets, abandoned schools and children’s toys in Pripyat were a reminder of “how quickly ordinary peaceful life can be shattered.”
“For Belarusians, this is not someone else’s tragedy — it is our shared pain,” she wrote, noting that she was “also a child of Chornobyl” and had participated in recovery programs for children affected by the 1986 nuclear disaster.
She warned that Russia’s war against Ukraine and Moscow’s use of “nuclear blackmail” made the lessons of Chornobyl especially relevant today.
“I believe that Belarus and Ukraine will together build a future without war, dictatorship, or nuclear threats,” Tsikhanouskaya added.
Threats from Belarus
The visit comes amid warnings from Kyiv that Russia is increasingly involving Belarus in its war in Ukraine.
After a meeting with Tsikhanouskaya earlier this month, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Russia is turning Belarus into a staging ground for attacks.
“Moscow is increasingly dragging Belarus into its war against Ukraine, turning it into a platform for aggression, not only against our country, but against Europe as a whole,” Sybiha wrote on X.
Ukrainian officials have also reported increased military activity in Belarus, including infrastructure development near the border and expanded mobilization measures.
Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation also said Minsk is tightening control over internet access, adopting measures similar to Russia’s “sovereign internet” system.
Belarus allowed Russian forces to use its territory during the early stages of the full-scale invasion in 2022 and remains a close ally of Moscow while denying plans for direct involvement.