Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service (DPSU) said Belarusian troops are not posing an immediate threat, but, Ukraine is nonetheless strengthening its border against the possibility of a Minsk incursion.
Speaking on television on Thursday, Aug. 29, DPSU Spokesperson Andriy Demchenko reiterated earlier comments that it detected no immediate threats on the border, and that Ukrainian troops are constantly monitoring it and are ready to react.
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“This is tens of kilometers from our border, at different points – different distances. What is happening on the territory of Belarus is actively monitored by intelligence units, the Ministry of Defense and the State Border Service in order to understand how the situation is changing, how threatening it can be for Ukraine.
“So that all components of our defense forces, which strengthen this direction, have the opportunity to react in time to any actions,” said Demchenko.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in its Monday report that Belarus’s troop deployment to the Gomel region bordering Ukraine was likely intended to divert Ukrainian troops from other fronts. The ISW assessed that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was “extremely unlikely to risk combat with Ukraine that could weaken his regime or drastically increase Belarusian domestic discontent.”
On Sunday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement to warn Minsk against “unfriendly actions” after it received reports from Ukrainian intelligence that Belarus was “concentrating a significant number of personnel… in the Gomel region near Ukraine’s northern border under the guise of exercises.”
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On Tuesday, Demchenko said the situation on the immediate border with Belarus “has not undergone any changes recently” and the DPSU “[has] not recorded any non-standard situation.”
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