After President Alexander Lukashenko announced that he would deploy almost a third of the country's armed forces to the border with Ukraine, Belarus has deployed aircraft and air defense troops, the Associated Press reported on Monday, UNN reports.
Details
The Belarusian military has also deployed anti-aircraft missiles and soldiers from the country's radio engineering corps, Major General Andrei Lukyanovich, commander of the Belarusian air defense forces, said on national television, calling the move a significant increase.
Belarus' authoritarian leader Lukashenko announced on Sunday that he has ordered nearly a third of the army to head to the border with Ukraine. Although he did not specify the number of troops, the Belarusian army has about 60,000 men.
Lukashenko said that the decision was made in response to the deployment of additional Ukrainian troops along the border, but this cannot be independently confirmed.
Ukraine has not confirmed the deployment of Belarusian troops on the 1,084-kilometer-long common border.
Russia has used Belarus, which is dependent on Russian loans and cheap energy, as a springboard for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, moving its troops through Belarusian territory to attack Ukraine from the north. Russia also moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus in 2023.
Lukashenko on Sunday also called for talks between Russia and Ukraine, but said that Kyiv's current incursion into Russia's Kursk region was hindering the talks. He called the “escalation” an attempt to provoke Moscow.
Chinese pm to visit Russia and Belarus this week19.08.24, 16:13