Putin's strongman ally may have accidentally shared a map of Russia's Ukrainian-invasion plans

• The Belarusian president may have shared on live TV Russia's plan of attack for Ukraine.

• Alexander Lukashenko showed "what looks like an actual invasion map," a reporter tweeted.

• The map also showed Ukraine divided into four sections.

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko may have accidentally shared Russia's invasion plans for Ukraine on live television.

A short video shared by the Belarusian journalist Tadeusz Giczan on Twitter showed Lukashenko pointing to a map of Ukraine that shows it segmented into four parts. Giczan called it "what looks like an actual invasion map." Lukashenko is an authoritarian and longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I thank these guys," Lukashenko said, though it was unclear who he was referring to. "They warned us, and literally, six hours before the launch of the missiles, we discovered this."

Russia's Iskander tactical missile system was "located here, right?" he added.

At that point, someone off-screen says, "In the Mazyr area," referring to a Belarusian city.

"In the Mazyr area," Lukashenko said. "We hit these rockets, these positions. And we haven't seen them afterward. During the offensive of the Russians in Ukraine, we already did not see them from the position. That's why I'm saying, yes, we have made launches from the territory of Belarus, and I told, frankly, which positions we targeted. Sit down."

Lukashenko's map shows red arrows from Belarus and Russian that point deep into Ukraine, with a pincer over Kyiv (the country's beseiged capital) and others that reach from the east all the way to the Dnieper river in the country's heart.

The video appeared to be published by a Belarusian pro-state Telegram channel.

Ukraine's parliament said on Tuesday that Belarusian troops had entered the Chernihiv region in northern Ukraine, near the country's border with Belarus.

It said the information was confirmed by Vitaliy Kyrylov, spokesperson for the North Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine.

The development came hours after Lukashenko told state news media that his country's troops were not joining Russia in its attack on Ukraine.

A US defense official told reporters on Tuesday there was "no confirmation that the Belarusians are entering Ukraine, we've seen no indication of that," according to Politico.

Tuesday marked the sixth day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which prompted protests around the world, including in Russia. Western nations have since levied heavy sanctions and other restrictive financial measures against Russia, in moves strongly condemned by the Kremlin.

Lukashenko, often referred to as "Europe's last dictator," is an authoritarian who has been in power since 1994.

He is widely considered to be a puppet of Putin and relies heavily on the Kremlin's support to stay in power. There were mass protests against Lukashenko in Belarus in 2020 after he won a sixth term in an election widely regarded as rigged.

The Belarusian leader faced global condemnation last year for grounding a Ryanair flight (which was escorted into Minsk, Belarus' capital, with a fighter jet), citing a security threat, to arrest a prominent dissident. Experts said Lukashenko would not have engaged in such a brazen move without Putin's permission.

Lukashenko is now Putin's closest ally in Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Read the original article on Business Insider