Ukraine's air force claimed Friday that Russia carried out an alleged false flag airstrike in a Belarusian village near the border with Ukraine.

In a post on Facebook, Ukraine's air force claimed Russian jets took off from a base in Belarus and entered Ukraine's airspace, then a fire started in the village of Kopani.

Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksy Reznikov earlier claimed in a Facebook post that Russian forces would launch a strike against Kopani to "pull the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus into the war with Ukraine."

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksy Reznikov on Friday accused Russia of preparing to carry out airstrikes against Belarusian villages close to the border with Ukraine in order to create a pretext for Belarus entering the war more directly.

Until now, Belarus has largely only acted as a base for Russia’s invasion forces and for missile and air strikes to be launched from its territory.

Ukraine claims it has information that Russia is planning to launch a series of false flag airstrikes against Belarusian villages to try to change that and create a push for war within Belarus, Reznikov said in a post online.

"I appeal to the Belarusian people. Friends. According to information in which we are completely sure and which we have confirmed, at the present moment the command of the Russian occupation troops is preparing a series of bloody provocations," he said.

Reznikov added, "According to their criminal conspiracy, Russian aviation is preparing to launch a strike on a range of population centers on the territory of Belarus, located close to the Ukrainian-Belarusian border."

He named the village of Kopani in the Brest region.

He denied Ukraine would ever launch strikes and said, "the goal of the provocation is to push the acting leadership of Belarus towards war against Ukraine. Moscow is trying to bind you with blood."

-ABC News' Patrick Reevell

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Friday that it will restrict the export of U.S. luxury goods to Russia and Belarus, as well as "certain Russian and Belarusian oligarchs and malign actors located worldwide," as a result of their actions in Ukraine.

The Department of Commerce said it will impose restrictions on the export, reexport and transfer of luxury items including certain spirits, tobacco products, clothing items, jewelry, vehicles and antique goods.

"Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine continues to take a devastating toll on innocent civilians in Ukraine, fueling one of the worst humanitarian crises Europe has seen in decades," Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Raimondo added, "Putin and the oligarchs who fund him have gotten rich off of Putin’s rampant corruption and the exploitation of the Russian people. We will not allow Putin and his cronies to continue living in opulence while causing tremendous suffering throughout Eastern Europe. Today’s action takes away another source of comfort and reminds them that Russia is increasingly isolated."

-ABC News' Luke Barr

The World Health Organization said Friday that it is urging Ukraine to now destroy its pathogen samples because Russia's war in the country risks an "accidental spill," according to WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević.

"This is part of us providing a public health advice to every country to try to ensure there is a minimized risk of any harm to population because of any possible accidental leak of pathogens," Jašarević said Friday from Lviv.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan

The U.S. State Department is condemning Moscow's attack on the media, saying the Kremlin "is engaged in a full assault on media freedom and the truth, and Moscow’s efforts to mislead and suppress the truth of the brutal invasion are intensifying."

"The people of Russia did not choose this war. Putin did," Ned Price, State Department spokesman, said in a statement. "They have a right to know about the death, suffering and destruction being inflicted by their government on the people of Ukraine. The people of Russia also have a right to know about the human costs of this senseless war to their own soldiers."

The statement comes 24 hours after the Russian government blocked the country's only two major independent news broadcasters, Dozhd TV and Radio Ekho Moskvy, accusing them of spreading "false information" about Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

"Ekho Moskvy has been respected for its even-handed treatment of breaking news since its founding 32 years ago, and, until yesterday, its broadcasts reached some 1.8 million daily listeners throughout Russia and beyond," the State Department said in a statement Wednesday night. "Dozhd, which has been operating for more than a decade, is similarly known for high-quality reporting."

Russian state channels, such as RT and Sputnik, are banned from using the word "war" or "invasion" in relation to Russia's assault on Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin instead has referred to it as a "special military operation."

The State Department said the Russian Parliament will consider a bill Friday to make "unofficial" reporting on the invasion punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan and Patrick Reevell