Belarus has deployed special forces soldiers along the Ukraine border, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.
In an update on Monday, the MoD said that the presence of President Alexander Lukashenko’s forces would “likely fix Ukrainian troops, so they cannot deploy in support of operations in the Donbas”.
“Following exercise activity earlier this month, Belarus has announced the deployment of special operations forces along the Ukraine border, as well as air defence, artillery and missile units to training ranges in the west of the country,” the MoD said.
“The presence of Belarusian forces near the border will likely fix Ukrainian troops, so they cannot deploy in support of operations in the Donbas.”
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They added that, despite speculation in the west, Belarussian troops had not been directly involved in the conflict.
However, the MoD noted that Belarussian territory had been used as a “staging post for Russia’s initial advance on Kyiv and Chernihiv” and that the Kremlin had launched air sorties and missile strikes from the country.
Read more: yahoo
