Belarus Raises Alarm, Predicts Ukrainian Attacks; Kiev Denies, trying to avoid new tensions in the complex framework of the war with Russia. President Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarus is the main ally of Vladimir Putin’s Russia: Minsk has welcomed nuclear weapons deployed by Moscow and is involved in exercises conducted by the Russians. Especially in the first phase of the war, triggered by the invasion ordered by Putin in February 2022, Ukraine turned the spotlight on its northern border fearing massive actions from Belarus.
Now, it is Minsk that has announced that it has strengthened air defense on the border with Ukraine “to protect critical infrastructure” denouncing the increase in Kiev’s drone activity in the area and the movement of Ukrainian military forces and equipment in the region of Zhyomyr. The commander of the Belarusian Air Force, Andrei Severinchik recalled that last few daysBelarusian military forces shot down a Ukrainian drone that had crossed the border “to gather information on target sites.”
Deputy head of ideology at the Belarusian special operations command, Vadim Lukashevich, cited the massing of military forces, weapons and military equipment “along our border”, in particular US-made infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers and heavy artillery systems.
The Belarusian alarm, in reality, appears unfounded judging by the position reiterated by Ukraine. Kiev effectively admits that it wanted to strengthen its defense lines, while rejecting Minsk’s accusations“There is no provocation, they must have gotten confused,” said Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for the Border Guards. “The real threat comes from Belarus. There are sufficient Russian forces deployed there,” underlined Andriy Kovalenko, director of the National Security Council’s counter-disinformation center.
