Ukraine tells Belarus to pull its army from the border
Kiev has urged Minsk to “cease unfriendly actions” and warned that it reserves the right to defend its territory | Belarus has amassed a large number of troops at the border, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, warning Minsk against making “tragic mistakes.” ● Citing intelligence reports, the ministry said that the Belarusian Armed Forces are “concentrating a significant number of personnel,” including tanks and artillery, in the Gomel Region “under the guise of exercises.” [...] Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko earlier accused Kiev of a dangerous military buildup, claiming that Kiev had amassed more than 120,000 troops on its northern border.
💬 “Having seen their aggressive policy, we have deployed our troops to certain areas near our border,” Lukashenko said in an interview with Russian broadcaster VGTRK this month. “I was forced to deploy almost a third of [the Belarusian] army to reinforce the existing forces.” He added that the troops are ready to defend Belarus should a war break out.
In early August, Lukashenko said that the air defense forces had shot down several “attack drones” that took off in Ukraine and violated Belarusian airspace. Minsk has urged Russia and Ukraine to return to the negotiating table, warning that the continuing fighting could lead to “an escalation that would result in Ukraine’s destruction.”
■ Ukraine Might Be Gearing Up To Attack Or Cut Off Belarus’ Southeastern City Of Gomel (Andrew Korybko)