Zelenskyy warns partners about new Russian military plans in Belarus
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Intelligence Service chief Oleh Ivashchenko (photo: president.gov.ua)
Ukrainian intelligence has obtained information about a new Russian plan to use Belarusian territory for military purposes, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said following a briefing from the head of Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service, Oleh Ivashchenko.
According to Zelenskyy, the details of this information will not be disclosed for now. The Ukrainian side will warn partners who could be threatened by the implementation of these plans.
"Oleh Ivashchenko reported on a Russian plan for further military exploitation of Belarusian territory. At this stage, we will not make the information public. We will warn the partners who could be threatened by this," the president said.
Zelenskyy also said that ahead of his visit to Washington and meetings with European leaders, he discussed shutting off supply channels to Russia for critical components and equipment used to produce weapons.
"We in Ukraine clearly understand which supplies matter most to Moscow, and every such scheme must be blocked. Our partners have all the means to do this," the president added.
Relations between Belarus and Russia
On October 11, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, ordered an urgent inspection of the Belarusian armed forces' combat readiness. The inspection is taking place amid large-scale Russian-Belarusian military exercises called Zapad-2025, which this year have been expanded to include the territory of the Kaliningrad region — an area bordering Poland, Lithuania, and other Baltic states.
Ukraine's State Border Guard Service reported that there is currently no increased activity of the Belarusian army near the Ukrainian border.
Earlier, Lukashenko stated that Belarus is participating in the production of several launchers for Russia's medium-range ballistic missiles known as Oreshnik.
Zelenskyy also said that Russia is preparing a series of provocations involving Ukrainian prisoners of war in Belarus, forcing them to record video messages to their parents with complaints about the alleged inaction of the Ukrainian side.
