Russia Joins With Belarus For Joint Drills Ahead Of Feared Invasion Of Ukraine
Russia has partnered with Belarus for a series of military exercises taking place in the neighbouring country, turning up the heat on the Ukraine amid fears of an invasion.
After already amassing some 100,000 soldiers along Ukraine’s borders, Russian units are carrying out training drills with their Belarusian counterparts as the West fears it could lead to an imminent incursion.
The Russian Ministry of Defence shared footage of troops arriving in Belarus on social media on 19th January.
The Russian MoD however claimed the exercises are “to strengthen the protection of the State Border to prevent the penetration of armed militant groups, to block routes for the delivery of weapons and ammunition, as well as to search for, prevent, and destroy illegal armed formations and sabotage and gather reconnaissance on groups of a mock enemy”.
On 18th January, an unnamed spokesperson for the US State Department said: “We are very alert to everything that Russia is doing. The fact that we’re seeing this movement of forces into Belarus clearly gives the Russians another approach should they decide to take further military action against Ukraine.
“We are concerned across several dimensions about Russia creating a pretext for a possible invasion.
“President Putin created this crisis by amassing 100,000 Russian troops along Ukraine’s borders. This includes moving Russian forces into Belarus over the weekend. This is neither an exercise nor normal troop movement. It is a show of strength designed to cause or give false pretext for a crisis as Russia plans for a possible invasion.
“This is extremely dangerous. We are now at a stage where Russia could, at any point, launch an attack on Ukraine.”
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has called the claims of a possible invasion groundless, adding that Russia is only moving their troops with their own territory.
Russia and Belarus will stage Union Resolve 2022 exercises from 10th to 20th February.