Belarus deploys more troops and aircraft to border with Ukraine – AP

Associated Press (AP) has reported that Belarus has deployed aircraft and air defence units to the border with Ukraine, a day after self-proclaimed President Alexander Lukashenko announced that he would deploy almost a third of his military along the border.

Source: AP

Details: Major General Andrey Lukyanovich, Commander of the Air Force and Air Defence Forces of Belarus, said that anti-aircraft missiles and soldiers from the country's radio engineering corps had been deployed near the border. He called such actions "significant reinforcement" of the troops. 

On 18 August, Lukashenko announced that he had ordered almost a third of the army to the border with Ukraine. AP emphasised that Lukashenko did not specify the number of troops but pointed out that the Belarusian army has about 60,000 soldiers.

Lukashenko said the decision was made in response to the deployment of additional Ukrainian troops along the border. "But that could not be independently verified," AP said.

Ukraine has not confirmed the deployment of Belarusian troops on the 1,084-kilometre-long common border.

AP reiterated that Russia used Belarus, which depends on Russian loans and cheap energy, as a foothold for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, moving its troops across Belarusian territory to attack Ukraine from the north. Russia also moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus in 2023.

Background:

On 18 August, Lukashenko called for talks between Russia and Ukraine but said Kyiv's operation in Russia's Kursk Oblast was hindering them. He called Ukraine's actions "an attempt to provoke Moscow".

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