However, the adversary is trying to pin down the Ukrainian Armed Forces by escalating the situation on the border with Belarus, and on the border with the aggressor state in Chernihiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv oblasts, Demchenko said.
"Demonstrating a certain presence to ensure that Ukraine maintains the necessary number of its forces and does not transfer them to more important areas where such full-scale hostilities are taking place [is the aim of the Russians]," Demchenko said.
He added that Ukraine's northern border with Belarus is constantly being reinforced, with fortifications being built and mines laid.
At the same time, Demchenko notes that it is very difficult to strengthen the border line of Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts with Russia as the area is under constant shelling.
Wagner units in Belarus: what is known
On June 24, the Wagner PMC, led by their financier Yevgeny Prigozhin, ended their one-day mutiny after Prigozhin's talks with self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin then gave the militants three options, including exile to Belarus.
A few days after that, there were reports that camps were being built in Belarus to house the Wagner units, and soon satellite images of a suspected PMC field camp appeared. Lukashenko said that no camps were being built in Belarus for Wagner Group, but that the country would "help with accommodation if necessary."
Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service estimated that Belarus could accommodate about 8,000 Wagner mercenaries on its territory. However, Ukrainian intelligence stressed that it is too early to talk about the deployment of Wagner units to Belarus.
Later, reports appeared that Wagner mercenaries in Belarus would teach Belarusians how to fight. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke about this, and on July 12, the Belarusian Interior Ministry confirmed the talks on training Belarusian special forces.
At the same time, on July 14, the State Border Guard Service claimed that Russia had withdrawn almost all of its military from Belarus.