Belarus has deployed aircraft and air defense units to the border with Ukraine

Belarus has deployed aircraft and air defense units on the border with Ukraine. The agency wrote it on Monday AP. The troop deployment came just a day after the Belarusian leader announced that he would send a third of the Belarusian army to the Ukrainian border.

The Belarusian army also deployed anti-aircraft missiles and soldiers from the radio engineering corps, the commander of the Belarusian air defense forces, Major General Andrey Lukyanovich, said according to the AP agency on Belarusian television, calling this step a significant reinforcement.

Belarusian leader Lukashenko announced on Sunday that he had ordered the transfer of almost a third of the army to the border with Ukraine. Although he did not specify the number of soldiers, the Belarusian army numbers about 60,000 soldiers, according to AP. Lukashenko said the decision was a response to the deployment of additional Ukrainian troops along the border.

Ukraine has not confirmed Belarusian deployment on the common border, which is over a thousand kilometers long.

Russia has used Belarus, which is dependent on Russian loans and cheap energy, as a staging ground for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, moving its troops through Belarusian territory to attack Ukraine from the north, the AP recalled. Russia also moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus in 2023.

Lukashenko also called for talks between Russia and Ukraine on Sunday, but said Kiev’s current incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was hindering talks. He described the “escalation” as an attempt to provoke Moscow.