As of today, no unusual situations have been reported on the border with Belarus, but the task of intelligence and the State Border Service is to find out in advance about the plans for the Russian-Belarusian exercises “West-2025” and the number of forces and resources that will be involved in them.
According to Ukrinform, this was stated on television by State Border Service spokesman Andriy Demchenko.
“We cannot ignore the announced exercises, especially the active phase, which was announced for September. We have always paid close attention to the border with Belarus, and we will continue to do so, because this area remains a threat to us. However, as of now, there are no reports of any groups that are located on the territory of Belarus or are being formed near our border. At the same time, as long as Belarus supports the terrorist country Russia in this war against our country, we will, of course, pay all necessary attention and continue to build up our defense capabilities directly along the border in terms of engineering and fortifications along the border so that Ukrainian soldiers and units of all branches of the Defense Forces located in this direction have all the opportunities to counter any aggression that may come from the territory of Belarus. As of now, we do not note any unusual situations directly along the border,” Demchenko said.
At the same time, he noted that if Russian units are present on the territory of Belarus, the risk for Ukraine will increase. Therefore, the main task of intelligence and the State Border Service is to find out in advance what is planned during the exercises on the territory of Belarus and how many of its forces and resources Russia will transfer to the territory of Belarus.
“If it is a small group, then most likely, no invasion should be expected. If it is larger, then the risk increases significantly. But we cannot rule out some kind of demonstration near our border, possibly provocative actions. Therefore, we must be prepared for any developments and act calmly, in accordance with the situation that arises during these exercises,” Demchenko said.
He also noted that one should not succumb to information leaks about the transfer of exercises deeper into Belarus, as the threat could arise along the entire length of the border with Belarus.
“It is not worth succumbing to all this misinformation, which both Belarus and Russia will now be appealing to. Only verified information and our readiness to act along the entire length of the border with Belarus – from Volyn to Chernihiv. Because there could be a threat to us from any direction. And again, I will emphasize that this will continue until Belarus stops supporting Russia,” the spokesman stressed.
As reported by Ukrinform, the Russian-Belarusian exercises “West-2025” will take place in mid-September. More than 13,000 military personnel will take part in the maneuvers.
