Should Ukraine fear another escalation? Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin and Belarus' ruler Lukashenko want to set up a joint force and station it on the Belarusian border with Ukraine. Now the first Russian soldiers are arriving in Belarus.
Russia has sent the first soldiers to the neighboring country for a joint force with Belarus. The Belarusian Ministry of Defense in Minsk confirmed the arrival of several trains carrying Russian soldiers. No information was given on the current numbers of troop deployments or on the future strength of the joint force.
Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko announced on Monday that he would set up a joint regional force with Russia. In view of the rising tensions, it is intended to protect the Belarusian border.
Russia has used Belarus as a staging area for the war against Ukraine and is also launching airstrikes on Ukrainian targets from there. Military observers have so far considered it unlikely that Belarus will intervene in the war. This unpopular step could also shake Lukashenko's position of power in the country.
On the other hand, a Russian-Belarusian deployment on the border ties up Ukrainian forces, which are then absent in the east and south of the attacked country. In the Belarusian opposition to Lukashenko, the number of allegedly 120,000 Russian soldiers who are to be stationed in Belarus in the coming months is circulating. In addition, the Belarusian army is said to be increased from around 45,000 to 100,000 men through mobilization measures. There is no official confirmation of this.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of wanting to "dragge Belarus directly into this war" and called for an international monitoring mission for the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. Belarus is financially and politically dependent on Russia as an ally. In the months leading up to the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Lukashenko had allowed Russian troops to deploy in Belarus. Belarusian soldiers have not yet taken part in the offensive.
