LIVE UPDATES: Kiev Ready to Investigate Missile Incident in Belarus With Experts - Defense Ministry

Ukraine is ready to investigate the incident with the fallen missile in Belarus and invite experts not affiliated with Russia, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said that Ukraine's S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile that fell in the Brest Region of Belarus at around 07:00 GMT was shot down by the country's air defense forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked US President Joe Biden for ATACMS missiles during their recent meeting but to no avail, a US media reported, citing sources. These missiles have a range of 300 kilometers (190 miles).

Zelensky asked for the longer range missiles as Russian forces learned to adjust their positions in a way to dodge the US-supplied HIMARS missiles with 80 miles range, but the US position not to send ATACMS to Ukraine has remained unchanged, an undisclosed source was cited in the report as saying.

During Zelensky's visit to Washington on December 22, the Biden administration announced a new $1.85 billion security assistance package for Ukraine that includes the Patriot system.

Western countries have been ramping up their military support for Kiev since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. In April, Moscow sent a note to NATO member states condemning their military assistance to Kiev. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned that any arms shipments on Ukrainian territory would be "legitimate targets" for Russian armed forces. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, stated that arms provision was undermining prospects for a future peace process.

It is necessary to wait for the end of the investigation of the fallen Ukrainian missile on the territory of Belarus to determine if it was a case of a deliberate provocation, Belarusian foreign ministry spokesman Anatoly Glaz said.

"An investigation is underway now. There is no exact information to date. An investigative team is working," Glazov said, answering the question whether the incident with the fall of a Ukrainian missile on Belarusian territory was a provocation or an accident.

The diplomat added that it is necessary to wait for the results of this work.

Italy is ready to act as a guarantor of a possible peace agreement on Ukraine, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Thursday.

"There are difficulties in guaranteeing the peace process later, so I have told [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky that Italy is ready to become a guarantor of a possible peace agreement and is ready to assist in this process," Meloni told at a press conference.

In this regard, the Italian prime minister also announced her intention to visit Kiev before the end of February 2023, since "February 24 may become the date by which something can be done as part of an open initiative."

The military commissar of the Brest region of Belarus, Oleg Konovalov, said on Thursday that the incident with the fallen Ukrainian missile in Belarus is similar to the case in Poland.

"Today, at around 10:00 a.m. [local time, 07:00 GMT], the fall of an anti-aircraft guided missile of the S-300 complex of the Ukrainian armed forces was allegedly recorded on the territory of the Ivanovo district. The situation is similar to the one that happened recently with the fall of the same missile on the territory of Poland," the military commissar said in a statement on the Brest Regional Executive Committee's Telegram.

Konovalov stressed that the residents of the region should not worry, but unfortunately such incidents happen.

Ukraine's S-300 missile that fell in the Brest Region of Belarus on Thursday was shot down by the country's air defense forces, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said.

"Today, at around 10:00 a.m. [07:00 GMT], an air target was hit by air defense forces. Its fragments were found in an agricultural field near the village of Harbacha, Ivanava District, Brest Region," the ministry said on Telegram.

It was established that the wreckage belonged to an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile fired from Ukrainian territory, the Belarusian Defense Ministry added.

Minsk pledged to provide details of the incident in the near future.

Ukrainian media reported about explosions in Kiev and the region.

Air raid warnings have been issued in the Kiev, Zhitomir, Vinnytsa, Cherkasy and Kirovograd regions of Ukraine, according to the online air raid alert map of the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Earlier, air raid alerts were issued in the Odessa, Nikolayev, Sumy, Poltava, Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov regions, as well as the Kiev-controlled parts of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.