“The operations will be comprehensive; troops will have to move as quickly as possible to the designated areas, move engineering equipment there, organize protection and defense, and build bridges across the Neman and Berezina rivers,” the Belarusian defense ministry said in a statement.
Belarus, a close economic and military ally of Russia, last week announced a redeployment of troops and combat equipment amid what Minsk called the “threat of terrorism,” raising questions about whether the move is being forced by the Kremlin, which has long pressured its ally to launch a new front in the war with Ukraine, the Reuters news agency reported.
Belarus has said it will not enter the war in Ukraine, but Lukashenko in the past made Belarusian territory available to Moscow. The move is what allowed Russia’s late February assault on northern Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, according to Reuters.
(jh/gs)
Source: Reuters, PAP