Belarus telecom tender follows reports of Ukrainian attack on Russian relay station

Following reports of the destruction of a Russian relay station on the territory of Belarus, MTS announced a tender for the restoration of infrastructure in Polesia. Construction and installation work is required on cellular communication tower No. 1499 in Gomel region.

As established by journalists from the outlet "Flagshtok", it is located near the House of Culture in the center of the village of Tonegh, Lelchytsy district. The documentation does not specify what damage the base station sustained. However, a complete set of drawings of metal structures and electrical equipment has been attached to it.

On July 5, the Belarusian outlet This Minsk Media reported a Ukrainian strike on a tower near Lelchytsy. The journalists cited an unnamed source and noted that a fire broke out after the first attack.

"They missed on the first try — after the drone fell, a forest fire started. When people came to put it out, they witnessed a second attempt: it hit the tower directly. Local residents were strictly forbidden from talking about the incident or even leaving their homes. But everyone here knows everything", one of This Minsk Media's sources said.

The FIRMS service, which tracks forest fires, shows that on the afternoon of June 28, a fire was recorded approximately 3 km from the MTS base station in Tonegh.

The following day, Ukrainian military analyst Ivan Stupak, in a stream on Euroradio, said that "three [Russian] relay stations [on the territory of Belarus] were put out of action as a result of Ukrainian operations. And a fourth stopped working, let's say, of the Republic of Belarus's own free will."