There are no additional Russian forces in Belarus that would pose an increasing threat, but neither a renewed invasion nor provocations can be ruled out - State Border Guard Service
Kyiv • UNN
The State Border Guard Service stated that there are no new additional Russian forces in Belarus that would pose an increasing threat to our state. However, the risk of provocations remains.
Currently, there are no additional Russian units on the territory of Belarus that would pose a growing threat to our state; however, neither a repeated offensive nor provocations on the border can be ruled out—for example, in the direction of Kyiv or along the western section with the aim of cutting off logistical routes, Andriy Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, reported during a briefing on Friday, UNN reports.
Details
On the territory of Belarus, inspections of various army units are constantly taking place, including jointly with Russia, Demchenko noted.
"Readiness checks, joint exercises with Russia, inspections of various units" of the Belarusian army—there are only small intervals of time when there is a pause, said the SBGS spokesperson.
"In fact, Russia has not deployed any additional units there for the threat to our country to be assessed as growing. But, again, the threat to our country is growing because Russia is now more actively pressuring Belarus to join the war against our country on Russia's side with its own forces," the SBGS spokesperson said.
Demchenko emphasized that a new offensive or provocations on the border cannot be ruled out.
"One cannot rule out either a repeated invasion, but with different components, or provocations on the border aimed at distracting our attention; therefore, overall, the risk remains. But again, intelligence units are monitoring how the situation develops deep within the territory of Belarus (...) so that we can respond in time to any challenges,"
Therefore, according to him, it is necessary to strengthen the defense and fortifications on the Belarusian border. "Again, this applies to the entire length of the border with Belarus—Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions—we have over 1,000 km with Belarus. And again, each of these directions is important for us, because there could be provocations in the direction of Kyiv, or provocations along the western section with the aim of cutting off logistical routes, for example. This was also observed in '22. Therefore, of course, we must prepare for the worst, but, of course, be stronger than what might come at us," Demchenko noted.
Minsk has never once condemned Russia for using its airspace for attacks on Ukraine, the SBGS spokesperson added.
"But over the last few weeks, the increase in such tactics by Russia (...)—yes, it has increased," Demchenko noted.