Up to seven Belarusian battalions amassed on Ukrainian border - Ukrainian Ministry of Defence

VALENTYNA ROMANENKO - TUESDAY, 21 JUNE 2022, 12:29

There are as many as seven Belarusian battalions on the border between Belarus and Ukraine.

Source: Olexandr Motuzianyk, spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, during the national 24/7 TV newscast

Quote from Motuzianyk: "There are up to seven Belarusian battalions on the border in Brest and Gomel oblasts [of Belarus - ed.] right now. That's about 3,500 to 4,000 personnel.

But it should be understood that there are also Russian troops there. I will not say how many, but there are a number of settlements where they are stationed."

Details: According to Motuzianyk, the Belarusian army has 60,000 soldiers in total, but Lukashenko's government wants to increase it by another 20,000, so they are actively recruiting Belarusians into the army.

Furthermore, given that the Belarusian side now provides Russia with all the logistics, it is entirely possible that the Russians will be able to transfer some additional reserves to Belarus quite quickly and, perhaps, prepare for an offensive, but it is important to be prepared for this. "As of now, we haven’t seen that yet," the Defence Ministry spokesman added.

Quote from Motuzianyk: "However, Russia's actions, as well as those of the Belarusian army, are forcing us to keep troops there. That’s the Russian tactic at the moment. The main focus of their strikes is on the Luhansk region and the Donetsk region; the rest is constant shelling, distracting our attention, hindering the actions of our units. This is how they are forcing us to keep troops there.

We are well aware that as soon as we remove our units from there, they can launch another offensive. We do not see that in the short term but we still have to reinforce this front."