The latest barrage of Russian missiles struck Kyiv, claiming two lives and wounding 91 others, as the capital cleaned up from Russia’s biggest missile attack of the year. Residential buildings, schools, and a market were among the damaged structures, revealing the direct cost borne by the working class and dispossessed in the ongoing imperial conflict. This assault comes as world powers scrutinize Belarus's deepening alignment with Moscow, a relationship underpinned by economic dependency and state repression, further entrenching the mechanisms of capital accumulation and power projection.
The Human Cost of Imperial Conflict
The Russian Foreign Ministry, in a statement Monday, announced that further “systemic strikes” on Kyiv were in store. It urged foreign citizens, including members of diplomatic missions, to leave the city as quickly as possible and told residents to stay away from military and government facilities. The ministry cited Friday’s deadly Ukrainian drone strike on a college dormitory in Starobilsk as “the final straw,” while Ukraine maintained it hit only targets supporting Russia’s invasion.
Beyond Kyiv, a Russian missile hit a business in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Derhachi on Monday, killing two people and wounding 19 others. Seventeen individuals were hospitalized following this attack, according to Kharkiv regional administration head Oleh Syniehubov. Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the Kyiv City Administration, confirmed the casualties in the capital, where shattered glass littered sidewalks after Sunday’s bombardment damaged buildings across the city.
Belarus, under the three-decade rule of President Alexander Lukashenko, has been a critical ally in Moscow’s projection of power. Some Russian troops entered Ukraine from Belarusian territory in Moscow’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, marking the fourth year of the conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Belarus could provide a launchpad for Russia to open a new front in northern Ukraine.
Capital's Grip and State Repression
Lukashenko, who has governed his country of some 9.5 million people with an iron fist, relies on the Kremlin for cheap energy, loans, and other support. This economic dependency underpins his regime's ability to maintain power and suppress dissent. Western countries have repeatedly slapped sanctions on Belarus, including for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory to invade Ukraine.
In a clear demonstration of transactional politics, Lukashenko has recently attempted to improve ties with the West. Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House, Lukashenko released hundreds of political prisoners as part of deals that lifted some U.S. sanctions. This exchange highlights how human lives and state repression are leveraged as bargaining chips in the global capitalist order.
Last week, Russia and Belarus held joint nuclear drills, signaling an escalation of military cooperation and a further entrenchment of their alliance. This move comes as the Russian army is locked in a hard and costly slog on the 1,250-kilometer front line that mostly snakes through eastern and southern Ukraine.
Diplomacy's Limits Amidst Escalation
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday, their first call since the invasion began. A presidential aide in the French leader’s office stated that Macron “underscored the risks for Belarus of allowing itself to be dragged into Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.” This diplomatic effort represents an attempt to manage the contradictions of the conflict without challenging its underlying structural causes.
The Belarusian presidential press service released a terse readout, stating the call with Macron took place “on the French side’s initiative” and the leaders discussed “regional issues” and Belarusian relations with the EU and France. Macron also spoke Sunday with Zelenskyy, but U.S. efforts to stop the fighting have stalled, revealing the limits of such interventions.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, commented on X that “Russia hit a dead-end on the battlefield, so it terrorizes Ukraine with deliberate strikes on city centers.” Meanwhile, U.S.-made air defense missiles are in short supply because of the Iran war, making Russian missiles harder for Ukraine to stop and illustrating the global reach of the military-industrial complex.
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, on her first visit to Kyiv, told The Associated Press on Sunday that “Lukashenko’s regime knows well what needs to be done to improve ties with the European Union, but it isn’t happening. Instead, hybrid attacks, nuclear blackmail and threats to the entire region.” Speaking after meeting with Ukrainian officials, Tsikhanouskaya stated that “Ukraine is defending not only its independence but also the right of our peoples to live without imperial dictatorship, without violence and fear.” She expressed conviction that “Ukraine’s victory will open the way to Belarus’s freedom.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, appearing alongside Tsikhanouskaya, emphasized that “Ukraine consistently differentiates between the regime that has dragged Belarus into Russian aggression and the Belarusian people.” He added that “we appreciate the contribution of Belarusian volunteers, journalists, human rights advocates and activists who are fighting for freedom, both ours and yours,” highlighting the ongoing resistance from below. Sybiha urged the international community to step up pressure on Moscow and ensure Ukraine gets more air defense assets, a call for further military aid that does not address the fundamental drivers of the conflict.
The Russian Federal Security Service reported that divers found magnetic mines attached to the hull of a liquefied petroleum gas tanker, the Arrhenius, in the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga. The tanker was bound for Samsun, Turkey, and the limpet mines were reportedly made in a NATO member country, further exposing the economic infrastructure targeted in this imperial struggle.