“We warn Belarusian officials not to make tragic mistakes for their country due to pressure from Moscow,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Belarus’ armed forces are “massing large numbers of troops” and weapons “under the guise of exercises” along Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus, Ukraine’s foreign ministry warned on Sunday, citing information gathered by the country’s intelligence sources.
Minsk is hosting special operations forces near the Belarusian city of Gomel, as well as weaponry including tanks, artillery, multiple launch missile systems, anti-aircraft defense systems and engineering equipment, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The city is located approximately 30 km from the border between Belarus and Ukraine.
The Foreign Office noted that there were also a number of former Wagner mercenaries in the area.
Belarusian dictator Aliaksandr Lukashenka has previously said that he sent a third of the country’s army to the border this summer. A. Lukashenka said that the gathering of troops at the border was the result of a misunderstanding between Belarus and Ukraine.
Commander of the Air Defense Forces of Belarus, Major General Andrejus Lukyanovich, on August 19. said the country had deployed additional Air Defense Forces troops and planes to the border with Ukraine.
August 25 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Belarus “not to make tragic mistakes for its country due to pressure from Moscow” and to immediately withdraw its forces from the Ukrainian border.
“We warn that if Belarus violates the state border of Ukraine, our state will take all necessary measures to use the right of self-defense guaranteed by the UN Charter,” the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
“All military concentrations, military facilities and supply routes in Belarus will become legitimate targets of the Ukrainian armed forces,” the statement continued.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine additionally warned that Belarusian troops carrying out exercises near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant would pose a “threat to Ukraine’s national security and global security.”
Belarus is Russia’s closest ally and hosts Russian troops and missiles. However, the Belarusian army is not currently directly involved in the invasion of Ukraine.
Center for Combating Disinformation of the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine in May. stated that he predicts the beginning of a new Russian psychological operation about the opening of a new front in the north of Ukraine near the border with Belarus, which is aimed at “causing mass panic” in the Ukrainian society.
It is unclear whether the Ukrainian military has conducted a new risk assessment of the ongoing Belarusian military build-up near the border. The statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is the first since 2023. in September published a statement on the relations between Ukraine and Belarus.
Parengta pagal „The Kyiv Independent“ inf.
2024-08-26 13:13:27