Belarus and Russia to form joint military group, says Lukashenko

Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus and Russia will form a joint military task force in response to what he called a worsening tension on the country’s western borders, state news agency Belta reported on Monday.

Lukashenko said the two countries would deploy a regional military group and began gathering forces two days ago, apparently after the explosion on the Russian bridge to Crimea.

Russian forces used Belarus as a starting point for the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, sending troops and equipment into Northern Ukraine from bases in Belarus.

Retaliation

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Ukraine had carried out “terrorist acts” against Russia and vowed to react forcefully if they continued.

In a televised speech, Putin said Moscow launched long-range missile strikes against Ukraine’s energy, military and communications infrastructure on Monday in retaliation for an attack on a vital bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimea peninsula. , on the weekend.

“It is obvious that the Ukrainian secret services ordered, organized and carried out the terrorist attack aimed at destroying Russia’s critical civilian infrastructure,” Putin said of the bridge explosion.

Ukrainian officials celebrated after the blast, but Kiev did not claim responsibility.

Cities across Ukraine were left without power or water and several were killed in Russian missile strikes on more than a dozen Ukrainian cities on Monday morning.

Putin said Russia would respond “harshly” to any further attacks from Ukraine.

“If attempts to carry out terrorist acts on our territory continue, Russia’s responses will be harsh and in their scale they will correspond to the level of threats created for the Russian Federation. No one should have any doubts about that,” Putin said.