New group of Russian military personnel arrives in Belarus
New Russian troops have arrived in Belarus (Photo:Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus)
The first units Russian servicemen belonging to a newly declared regional grouping of Russian and Belarusian troops have arrived in Belarus, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus reported on Oct. 15.
The official telegram channel of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense published photos and video of the welcoming of the Russian military to the territory of Belarus.
“The meeting was unexpected, very pleasant,” the Russian commander says in the video.
“We came to Belarus to help the fraternal Belarusian people. We are ready to carry out any tasks.”
The exact number of newly arrived Russians is not reported.
According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as of Oct. 13, up to a thousand Russian military personnel, as well as Russian military vehicles, are already in Belarus.
On Oct. 10, self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced that Minsk and Moscow had agreed to deploy a regional group of troops. According to him, the formation of the new force has already begun.
Lukashenko said that the basis of the group would be the Armed Forces of Belarus. At the same time, he ordered to receive and deploy "more than one thousand" Russian soldiers on the territory of the republic.
According to Lukashenko, this decision was made following the alleged "aggravation on the western borders of the ‘Ally State’ of Russia and the Republic of Belarus."
Accusations against Ukraine like these have been heard from the Lukashenko’s regime regularly since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, including from the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.
On Oct. 8, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry handed a note to Ukrainian Ambassador Ihor Kizima with a statement that Ukraine was allegedly preparing a strike against Belarus.
Kyiv denied this information and called it a Russian provocation.
On Oct. 12, the Belarussian KGB stated that foreign intelligence services were allegedly trailing “militants for a full-scale invasion” in Ukraine.
Lukashenko threatened that a new grouping of troops joint with Russia would be involved "if the level of threat reaches the current level, as it is now."
In addition, according to the Belarusian media, Nasha Niva, Lukashenko decided to start a mobilization in Belarus. On Oct. 13, the Parliament of the Republic of Belarus adopted a bill in the first reading, which proposes to limit citizens' ability to leave the country.
Following aggressive accusations from Lukashenko’s regime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that G7 leaders send an international peacekeeping mission to the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.
NATO also said that Lukashenko should stop supporting Russia's military actions against Ukraine. However, the alliance has said it doesn’t believe that Belarus is ready to enter the war against Ukraine.
Despite the fact that the Belarusian army doesn’t directly participate in the hostilities against Ukraine, Lukashenko’s regime has been actively helping Russia since the beginning of the full-scale war. The republic was a launching point for an invasion by Russian forces of the north of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
Missiles are launched regularly from the territory and airspace of Belarus towards Ukraine. Russia also uses Belarusian airfields for military aircraft. Recently, Iranian drones were brought to the territory of Belarus. Russia is actively using these drones against Ukraine, including by attacking civilian infrastructure.
In recent weeks, Russia has been actively importing military equipment and ammunition from Belarus. According to observers from Belarusian Hajun news and monitoring project Lukashehnko’s regime has transferred at least 60 tanks to Russia.
Lukashenko’s regime also uses the territory of Belarus to repair Russian vehicles.
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