Belarus's Lukashenko warns Ukraine, deploys troops with Russia

Authored by reuters.com and submitted by letschangethename
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LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday he had ordered troops to deploy with Russian forces near Ukraine in response to what he said was a clear threat to Belarus from Kyiv and its backers in the West.

The remarks from Lukashenko, who has held power in Belarus since 1994, indicate a potential further escalation of the war in Ukraine, possibly with a combined Russian-Belarus joint force in the north of Ukraine.

"Strikes on the territory of Belarus are not just being discussed in Ukraine today, but are also being planned," Lukashenko said at a meeting on security, without providing evidence for the assertion. "Their owners are pushing them to start a war against Belarus to drag us there."

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"We have been preparing for this for decades. If necessary, we will respond," Lukashenko said, adding that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the situation while at a meeting in St Petersburg.

Lukashenko said he had agreed with Putin to deploy a regional military group, and had started pulling forces together two days ago, apparently after an attack on Russia's road and rail bridge to Crimea early on Saturday.

Lukashenko said that a warning was delivered to Belarus through unofficial channels that Ukraine planned "Crimean Bridge 2", though he did not give details.

"My answer was simple: 'Tell the president of Ukraine and the other lunatics: if they touch one metre of our territory then the Crimean Bridge will seem to them like a walk in the park'."

Belarus's army has about 60,000 people. Earlier this year, Belarus deployed 6 battalion-tactical groups, totaling several thousand people, to the border areas. On Sunday, the head of Belarus's border guards accused Ukraine of provocations at the border.

Russian forces used Belarus as a staging post for their Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, sending troops and equipment into northern Ukraine from bases in Belarus.

Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Arkslippy on October 10th, 2022 at 11:23 UTC »

Sounds like they are laying the ground work for using the Belorussian army to invade Ukraine too, under the guise of retaliation for a "false flag operation".

Their army is 60,000 total, not enough to make a huge difference unless they are sending it all, but enough to pull Ukraine forces from the northern advance to meet it.

Zakluor on October 10th, 2022 at 10:51 UTC »

Isn't this the beginning of how Belarus becomes a Russian territory? Isn't Lukashenko just giving up his job in the long run?

The_Frostweaver on October 10th, 2022 at 09:46 UTC »

Did lukashenko not learn anything when he tried to help Putin take Kiev at the start of the war and got his face kicked in? What a dumb desperate loser, doubling down on the wrong side of a lost cause.