Ukraine has increased the number of forces deployed in northern regions near Belarus to counter any potential renewed Russian attack across the border, according to the country’s general staff.
“At the current time, the creation of a strike force [in Belarus] is not observable. [But] there are and will be threats. We are reacting, we have already increased our troops in the northern direction,” Oleksii Hromov, deputy head of the general staff’s main operations directorate, told a regular news briefing.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has previously allowed Moscow’s forces to use its territory as a springboard to attack Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus and Russia would deploy a joint military task force near Ukraine in response to what he claimed was a clear threat to his country from Kyiv and its backers in the West, without providing evidence for the assertion.