Ukraine accuses Belarus of massing tanks and troops on the border
Ukraine has accused Belarus of ‘concentrating’ troops on the countries’ shared border and warned its military against carrying out ‘unfriendly actions’.
Ukrainian intelligence recorded Belarus ‘concentrating a significant number of personnel…. in the Gomel region near Ukraine’s northern border under the guise of exercises’, Kyiv‘s foreign ministry said in a statement today.
Belarus had allowed Russian troops to use its territory as a launchpad for their February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv has now warned Vladimir Putin-allied Belarus ‘not to make tragic mistakes for their country under Moscow‘s pressure, and we urge its armed forces to cease unfriendly actions.’
The statement came as Kyiv mounts an incursion into Russia’s Kursk region and as Russia continues its advance into eastern Ukraine.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a key ally of Vladimir Putin, (pictured together in July 2024) earlier this month urged Russia and Ukraine to agree a peace deal to avoid the war spilling over into his country
A still image taken from an undated handout video made available by the Russian Defence Ministry Press-Service on August 23, 2024 shows Russian servicemen firing a 122-mm howitzer D-30 towards Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location
Footage released by the Russian Defence Ministry on August 24, 2024, reportedly shows Russian servicemen, who were released by Ukraine, on a bus at an undisclosed location in Belarus, where they are being provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance
Kyiv accused Belarus of building up equipment and troops on the border, saying it had recorded the presence of Wagner fighters – some of whom are being hosted by Belarus after their leader’s failed rebellion last year.
Ukraine warned that military exercises in the border area pose a ‘global security’ threat due to how close the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant – site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
The foreign ministry’s statement said: ‘We warn Belarusian officials not to make tragic mistakes for their country under Moscow’s pressure, and we urge its armed forces to cease unfriendly actions and withdraw forces away from Ukraine’s state border to a distance greater than the firing range of Belarus’ systems.’
‘We emphasise that Ukraine has never taken and is not going to take any unfriendly actions against the Belarusian people,’ the foreign ministry added.
Belarus has been ruled by President Alexander Lukashenko since 1994.
In 2022, he had allowed Russian troops to station in Belarus during what Russia and Belarus called ‘drills’ before they launched their invasion in February.
Belarus is politically and economically reliant on Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said Kyiv forces had made small advances into Russia’s Kursk region, more than two weeks after launching their surprise incursion, and taken two more settlements under their control.
‘I have just spoken with commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky, and there is an advance of our troops in the Kursk region. From one to three kilometres. Two more settlements were taken under control,’ Zelensky said in an evening address, adding that ‘active actions are underway in one more settlement.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured on August 24, 2024) said Kyiv forces had made small advances into Russia’s Kursk region, more than two weeks after launching their surprise incursion, and taken two more settlements under their control
Russian servicemen, in footage released by the by the Russian Defence Ministry Press-Service on August 23, are seen firing a 122-mm howitzer D-30 towards Ukrainian positions at an undisclosed location
Russian servicemen, who were released by Ukraine, wave from a bus at an undisclosed location in Belarus, where they are provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance in footage released on August 24, 2024
Russian servicemen that were released from Ukraine, after their aircraft landed at Moscow airport on August 25, 2024
A Ukrainian serviceman stands near a damaged building in the city center of Sudzha, in Ukraine-controlled territory of Russia’s Kursk region on August 21, 2024
Earlier this month Lukashenko urged Russia and Ukraine to agree a peace deal to avoid the war spilling over into Belarus.
Lukashenko, a key ally of Putin, in an interview with Russia state television on August 16 said he feared Kyiv‘s troops were planning an incursion into his nation after they launched their cross-border offensive in Russia.
Lukashenko claimed that only ‘high-ranking people of American origin’ wanted the Ukraine-Russia war to continue. The West, he said, was encouraging Kyiv to fight because it wants Ukraine and Russia to ‘destroy each other’.
He suggested in the interview, without providing evidence, that Kyiv could have plans to attack Belarus and Minsk would not allow Ukrainian troops to ‘trample on our country’.
Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin echoed Lukashenko’s comments at the time, saying there was a high probability of an armed provocation from neighbouring Ukraine.
Khrenin added that the situation at their shared border ‘remains tense’.
He said: ‘Given the presence of Ukrainian armed formations in the border areas, there is a high probability of preparing and carrying out armed provocations on our territory, as well as high-profile actions, including with the involvement of Belarusian nationalist formations’.
Belarusian soldiers attend a training by mercenary fighters of the Wagner private military company who relocated from Russia to a location near Tsel, a village about 90 kilometers southeast of Minsk, on July 14, 2023
Minsk also said earlier this month that it was sending troops to reinforce its southern border with Ukraine after accusing Kyiv of violating its airspace with drones. Kyiv said it had seen no signs of such a buildup.
Lukashenko repeated the claims about airspace violations and said the Belarusian troops were being despatched to the border to ‘prevent a breakthrough.’
He said Minsk saw no reason to use Russian nuclear weapons, deployed on Belarusian territory last year, unless its borders were violated.
‘We are not going to use any weapons until you step on our state border,’ he said at the time.
