Rumors of Belarus joining Ukraine war is Russian intimidation, says Ukrainian intelligence official
Intelligence assessed the probability of Belarus' joining the war against Ukraine (Photo:Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus / Telegram)
Rumors of Belarus joining Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine is being spread on purpose, as fake reports like that play into Russia’s hands, Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, said on Ukrainian television, the agency's press service reported on Nov. 28.
According to Yusov, this is yet another way that Moscow is trying to intimidate Ukrainians.
"In this case, we see different goals, that is, on the one hand, to sow panic among locals, namely Ukrainians, including residents of the frontier areas,” he said.
“And to disorient the Ukrainian defense forces, to disperse forces, to redeploy forces from other axes. And also the object and goals of this special psychological information operation are Belarus and Belarusians themselves, that is, to inflame them. To cause sparks and nonetheless involve Belarus itself in the full-scale war, which has not happened until now.”
He noted that now it is very important to understand what Russia’s goal is – and Ukrainians must not fall for such provocations.
“We are not saying that there is no threat from Lukashenko's regime,” Yusov added.
“It does exist, and Lukashenko does help Putin with weapons, ammunition, and armored vehicles. He provides his airspace for strikes on Ukraine, but today we cannot say that in the near future there will be a full-scale invasion and the engagement of Belarus in a ground operation.”
On Nov. 25, Ukrainian military intelligence denied reports that the Russian invasion forces are planning to re-invade Ukraine from Belarus in late November.
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