Ukraine accused Russia of gathering troops and stated that Belarus could send migrants out of its borders. Ukraine launched an operation on Wednesday (November 24) to strengthen its borders, including military exercises for anti-tank and airborne forces.
The State Border Service of Ukraine stated that the “special operations” at the border with Belarus involved the National Guard, police, armed forces and other reserve forces.
“Aviation and drones will also be actively used for patrol and surveillance,” the service said in a statement.
Ukraine has sent 8,500 more soldiers to its border with Belarus, saying it is worried about being involved in the immigration crisis. The European Union accused Minsk of flying in from the Middle East and pushing them into neighboring Poland. Belarus denies provoking the crisis.
Kiev is also worried that Russia may use the border with Russia’s close ally, Belarus, to conduct military attacks.
The head of Ukrainian military intelligence told the Military Times this weekend that Russia has assembled more than 92,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border and is preparing to launch an attack in late January or early February.
Moscow considers such proposals to be inflammatory and complains about the NATO alliance’s claims of increasing activities in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin told European Council President Charles Michel on Wednesday that he was concerned that Kiev’s “provocation” would increase tensions in eastern Ukraine.
OSCE Special Representative Miko Kinunin said in a statement that the monitoring team reported damage to civilian houses and infrastructure caused by heavy weapons on both sides of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
He said: “Before the measures to strengthen the ceasefire took effect in July 2020, the average number of ceasefire violations per day had exceeded the number.”
In 2014, after Moscow supported separatists occupying large areas of eastern Ukraine, relations between Ukraine and Russia broke down, and Kiev expressed its desire to reclaim the area.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksi Reznikov visited Washington this week. The Ministry of Defense stated that Ukraine, Britain and the US intelligence agencies had exchanged information and “reached the same conclusion.”
Reznikov said that during his visit, he met with British and American defense ministers who have already begun consultations with other EU and NATO member states.
The ministry quoted Reznikov as saying: “The response will be very severe-as far as I know, the head of the Kremlin was directly warned of this during a senior U.S. official’s visit to Russia.”
Ukraine said on Tuesday that it had to defend its independent rights and conducted a series of military exercises across the country.
Ukraine, which seeks to join NATO, received a large amount of American ammunition and javelin missiles earlier this year, sparking criticism from Moscow. On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Navy received two modified former U.S. Coast Guard patrol boats as part of a $2.5 billion aid package to Ukraine.
