Tensions escalate at Ukraine border as EU drops new sanctions on Russian ally Belarus

Tensions are growing at the border Ukraine shares with Belarus, one of the Kremlin’s strongest allies in its ongoing war against the Eastern European nation.

“The situation on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border is characterized by increasing tension,” Vadim Lukashevich, a deputy commander of special operations forces for the Belarus Armed Forces, told state-owned media outlet BELTA. “A coalition of Western countries has unleashed a heated conflict near our territory. They are attempting to drag our country into war.”

Russia sent troops into Ukraine from Belarus during its initial invasion in February 2022, but the country has largely stayed out of the conflict.

Now, Belarus is accusing Ukraine of getting ready to attack by sending more troops, weapons, and US-supplied military equipment to the northern region of Zhytomyr, which borders Belarus.

“We have information that Ukraine is amassing troops, weapons, and military equipment near our borders,” Lukashevich said. “In particular, American infantry fighting vehicles, multiple launch rocket systems, heavy long-range artillery, and other equipment have been deployed in the Zhytomyr region.”

Belarus in response bolstered its air defense forces at the border to take down any inbound drones deployed “to collect information about the Belarusian border infrastructure,” he continued.

He claimed Ukranian defenses set up on the border have “passages” through them that can be used “to penetrate into our territory in order to to carry out sabotage and terrorist acts here on our Belarusian soil.”

“We are ready to decisively use all available forces and means to protect our territory and the population of the Republic of Belarus from possible provocations in the airspace,” Andrei Severinchik, commander of the Belarusian Air Defense Forces, said in a statement.

But Ukraine insists it “poses no threat” to Belarus.

“On the contrary, we are forced to defend ourselves, including on the Belarusian front, as Belarus continues to support terrorists and previously opened its border to Russian invaders,” said Colonel Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service.

The friction at the border came as the European Council agreed to add more sanctions against Belarus, designed to close a loophole used to circumvent sanctions already in place against Russia.

“These comprehensive measures aim at mirroring several of the restrictive measures already in place against Russia, and thereby address the issue of circumvention stemming from the high degree of integration existing between the Russian and Belarusian economies,” the European Council said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are petitioning the European Council to build a defensive line along the bloc’s borders with Russia and Belarus, to protect the union from potential military incursions by Moscow.

In other developments:

• Ukraine has reportedly started using recently-acquired F-16 fighter jets to carry out strikes against Russia. The International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine has yet to confirm their use.
• The United Nations Security Council claimed to have compelling evidence Russia has used North Korean missiles in attacks on Ukraine. Inspectors reviewed the charred remnants of several missiles, determining they originated from North Korean.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia will restart production of intermediate range missiles, after backing out of a treaty with the US. The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty, signed in 1988 by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and President Ronald Reagan, banned the manufacture of ground-based nuclear and conventional missiles capable of hitting targets between 300 and 3,400 miles away.

With Post wires