Ukraine’s border forces assess risk amid Belarus-Russia joint drills
Border guards assessed the risk of provocations against Ukraine from Belarus (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
Currently, there are no formed or forming strike groups on the territory of Belarus that pose a threat to Ukraine, states Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
“As of now, we are not observing any changes in the situation along our border. There are no formed or forming strike groups on the territory of Belarus that would threaten our country. However, our vigilance must remain constant,” he said.
At the same time, when asked about joint Belarusian-Russian military exercises, Demchenko assured that Ukraine is closely monitoring everything planned on the territory of its neighboring country.
“We must understand that overall, as before, regardless of whether we’re in an active or inactive phase, the direction of the border with Belarus remains a threat for us. That’s why we continue to exclusively strengthen our defensive capabilities along the border, reinforcing it both in terms of engineering and in the border areas,” Demchenko explained.
However, he noted that during the active phase of these exercises, the threat to Ukraine will increase. It is the task of intelligence, he added, to monitor how many Russian forces might be deployed to Belarus for the drills.
“But we cannot rule out the possibility that, even if it’s a small number of troops, some provocations along our border or other actions might still occur,” the spokesperson stated.
Military exercises in Belarus
The joint Russia-Belarus military drills, Zapad-2025, are scheduled for mid-September. Moscow claims that the maneuvers will be purely defensive and aimed at practicing responses to potential aggression against the so-called Union State.
Meanwhile, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, warned that under the guise of these exercises, offensive troop formations could be secretly assembled.
“In other words, the appearance of exercises is the most acceptable way to reposition, transfer troops, concentrate them in a certain direction, and create a group of forces,” Syrskyi explained.
At the same time, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense announced that the strategic Zapad-2025 drills will be moved deeper inside the country, away from the borders with the EU. This is intended to reduce tensions among neighboring countries, particularly Poland and Lithuania.
