Russia Bombs Road to Monument of Friendship with Ukraine as It Prepares for Attack

Russia has destroyed a road near on its border with Belarus and Russia next to a monument memorializing the friendship between the three countries, presumably in preparation for an attack that would use that road to reach Russian positions.  

A video posted to Telegram by Ukrainian border guards shows a road exploding near the statue. “They went from ‘We’ll take Kyiv in three days’ to ‘Blow up the road so they don’t capture us,’” Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, told Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda.

The Three Sisters Monument sits at the intersection of the borders between Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. Constructed in 1975, the monument consists of three tablets with the coat of arms of the three countries and a large white pillar with bas relief imagery from their history. A year ago, authorities in the Ukrainian Chernihiv Oblast where the monument sits declared their intention to remove it. 

But the monument is still there, despite the recent explosion. The destruction of the road comes as Ukraine’s counteroffensive spins up to push Russia from the country it invaded more than eight years ago. Kyiv-aligned anti-Putin militias captured the Russian border town of Belgorod last week. Drone attacks have targeted Russian supply lines.

On the same day Russia blew up the road next to the Three Sisters Monument, it shot down drones over Moscow. The drones struck targets in Moscow’s wealthy suburbs. Days before Russia’s annual Victory Day Parade earlier this month, drones exploded over the Kremlin. Kyiv denied its involvement in either attack.

Ukraine’s push into regions dominated by Russia for almost 10 years will likely be slow going. Its troops are retreating from some locations, but it’s dug trenches and left behind massive anti-tank barriers in others. It’s also still able to strike Kyiv and other cities with missiles. The drone attacks on Moscow came after a weekend of sustained bombardment on the Ukrainian capital by Russian missile systems.

But the counteroffensive is coming. The drone attacks on Moscow and the siege of Belgorod proved that Russia is not impregnable. The destruction of the road shows that Russia is taking the counteroffensive seriously.

Andriy Yermak, President Zelensky’s Chief of Staff, echoed the sentiments of the border guards. “The Russians are blowing up the border roads they were using to ‘capture Kyiv in three days,’” he said, according to Novaya Gazeta.