(Dan Tri) – The Ukrainian army has deployed significant forces along the border with Belarus to probe the defense capabilities of the Russia-Belarus alliance, a Russian official said.
Ukrainian security forces practice near the Belarus border at the end of 2022 (Illustration: Reuters).
`According to the information we have, the Ukrainian army has indeed deployed significant forces along the Belarusian border. They want to probe the defense capabilities of the Union State,` quoted TASS news agency on June 18.
This official emphasized: `We hope Ukraine and its Western allies will be aware not to carry out military mobilization because this could have very serious consequences for them.`
According to him, Ukraine’s attempt to explore defense capabilities forces Russian and Belarusian combined forces to deploy in Belarus from October 2022.
`Their task is to prevent violations of the territory of the Union State, minimizing the risk of infiltration by sabotage and reconnaissance groups,` Mr. Polischuk emphasized.
Belarus is an important ally of Russia.
Last October, Russia and Belarus announced the formation of a combined military force to deal with `increased tensions on the western border`.
Since Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine last February, Belarus is said to have allowed its neighbor to use its territory to attack Ukraine.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko accused the West of trying to drag Belarus into the conflict in Ukraine.
Belarus shares borders with both Russia and Ukraine (Map: CBS).
Ukraine temporarily stops counterattacking?
In another development, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) quoted the opinion of Mr. Margo Grosberg, head of the Estonian Defense Intelligence Center, that Ukraine may `temporarily suspend its counterattack campaign in the next 7 days.`
ISW emphasized: `A pause is a common feature of large-scale attacks and this does not mean the end of Ukraine’s counter-offensive campaign.`
According to ISW, on June 18, Ukraine continued to counterattack on at least four fronts and `achieved small steps in regaining territory`.
Ukraine began its second counter-offensive starting on June 8 after the first counter-offensive late last year helped them regain part of the territory in Kherson and Kharkov.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, the Russian army appears to have begun moving forces from the east bank of the Dnieper River to Bakhmut in Donetsk and Zaporizhia province.
`The redeployment of this force seems to show that Russia believes that the possibility of Ukraine conducting a counterattack across the Dnieper River is very low after the Kakhovka dam collapse,` the British Ministry of Defense said.