Belarus is making moves near the border with Ukraine. British intelligence explains what this means

In a British intelligence report, released on Monday, May 16, we read that “after the end of exercises earlier this month, Belarus announced the deployment of operational forces along the border with Ukraine, as well as air defense, artillery and missile units at training grounds in the west of the country” . The British believe that “the presence of Belarusian forces near the border is likely to impede Ukrainian forces who will not be able to move in support of the operation in Donbass.”

British intelligence wrote that the Belarusian forces have not yet directly participated in the conflict, but the territory of Belarus was used by Russia to launch attacks on Kyiv and Chernihiv, as well as to organize air and missile attacks.

We read: “Belarusian President Lukashenko is likely to balance support for the invasion of Russia with the desire to avoid direct military involvement, which carries the risk of Western sanctions, Ukrainian retaliation and the potential for discontent in the Belarusian army.”

On May 4, we reported that Belarus has started sudden and large-scale exercisesTo test the combat readiness of your reaction force. Authorities in Minsk said at the time that the unannounced maneuvers did not threaten its neighbours.

“The purpose of the review is to assess the readiness of personnel and their ability to quickly respond to a possible crisis. Military units and subunits will operate in an unknown area in a rapidly changing situation” – stated the Belarusian Ministry of National Defense .

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Source: British Ministry of Defense, Onet