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Ukraine looks anxiously to its border as Russian troops arrive in Belarus

The announcement last week that Belarus and Russia would form a joint regional force and carry out military exercises set off alarm bells in Kiev.

The last time Belarusian and Russian forces held joint exercises, in February, many of these Russian forces crossed the Ukrainian border on their ill-fated journey towards the capital.

It’s not that Belarus has a powerful army—it doesn’t. But the prospect of Ukraine’s long northern border becoming a gateway for Russian forces for the second time this year would be a nightmare for Ukraine’s already overstretched forces.

Ukraine and Belarus share a 1,000 kilometer border, much of it sparsely populated and heavily forested.

At the moment, the Ukrainian army is carrying out offensives in the east and south, holding Russian forces in parts of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia. After seven months of war, the Ukrainian military suffered just like its enemy: moving forces to defend its northern flank would add to the forces already fighting on several fronts.

Predictably, Belarus says the joint force is purely defensive. The country’s Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said that “all activities carried out at the moment aim to provide a sufficient response to activities close to our borders”.

These activities, according to Belarus, are aimed at deterring Ukrainian preparations to attack the country. Lukashenko said last week that his government had been “warned of attacks against Belarus from the territory of Ukraine”.

Ukraine has vehemently denied the allegations. The Foreign Ministry said it “categorically rejects these latest insinuations from the Belarusian regime. We cannot rule out that this diplomatic note could be part of a provocation on the part of the Russian Federation.”

Source: CNN Brasil

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