Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has ordered the reinforcement of Belarusian troop groups in the Gomel and Mozyr tactical directions on the border with Ukraine. This was announced by the republic’s Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin at a press briefing, his words published on the Telegram channel of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense. “Military units of the special operations forces, ground forces, missile forces, including the Polonez rocket systems and Iskander complexes, have received tasks to march to designated areas,” Khrenin said.
According to the head of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense, the purpose of strengthening the troop group is “to respond to any possible provocations.” Minsk “is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to respond to any changes,” Khrenin emphasized.
Later, Lukashenko spoke of the “unsettled” situation on the Ukrainian border. During a meeting with local residents, he said he planned to sort this out on August 11. “There is already unrest on the border. So tomorrow I have to be there and sort out these problems,” he said (quote (according to “Belarus Today”).
On the morning of August 10, Lukashenko said that on the evening of August 9, Belarusian airspace had been violated. According to him, air targets flying from Ukraine crossed the border in the Kostyukovichsky District of the Mogilev Region, which borders on the Bryansk Region of Russia. Some of them were destroyed by the Belarusian air defense system, the rest “were transferred” to Russia and intercepted by Russian air defense systems near Yaroslavl, Lukashenko said. Khrenin later explained that the air targets were identified as drones.
Po data The Russian Defense Ministry, at night, air defense systems intercepted and destroyed six drones over the Yaroslavl region, another 26 over the Kursk region. Yaroslavl Region Governor Mikhail Evraev toldthat the drones tried to attack “one of the region’s enterprises.” As a result, no one was hurt, there was no destruction, the head of the region assured.
Lukashenko also stressed that Minsk will not leave provocations unanswered. “Why Ukraine needs this, I don’t understand. We need to figure it out. But we, as I said, clearly defined ourselves with them and conveyed this information to them that no provocations will go unanswered,” Lukashenko said, accusing Kyiv of escalating tensions.
Commenting on the incident, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry statedthat the flight of Ukrainian drones over the territory of the republic “radically escalates the situation” and is a dangerous attempt to expand the conflict zone in the region. Minsk warned that if the conflict expands, “the fire will engulf the entire region and spread, including to the EU countries.” In this regard, Minsk intends to hold consultations with allies and partners, as well as through international structures, and to appeal to the UN and the OSCE.
Last time Belarus moved its troops to the border with Ukraine at the end of June, this happened in response to the increase in the group of Ukrainian armed formations, including special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, in the border areas with Belarus. Already in mid-July, Lukashenko announced the elimination of tensions on the border with Ukraine and ordered the withdrawal of Belarusian troops to their permanent deployment sites. Then he noted that Belarus currently has no complications with the Ukrainian side. “And I hope there won’t be any,” he said.
Lukashenko then noted that he planned to discuss further steps on the situation in Ukraine with Vladimir Putin. He said that the settlement of the situation on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border is an example of “how, by talking, you can reach an agreement.” According to him, “this shows that there are enough normal people in Ukraine, especially among the military.” The Belarusian leader noted that Moscow is ready for negotiations, but under pressure from NATO, “Ukrainians are fighting.” After the destruction of Ukrainian air targets over Belarusian territory, Lukashenko said that Kyiv “is not ready for any peace.”
