President Lukashenko warns that the Belarus-Ukraine border is "unprecedentedly mined", Kiev strongly denies

On August 18, Belarus' state news agency Belta reported that President Lukashenko announced that Ukraine had deployed more than 120,000 troops on the border with Belarus and that Minsk had deployed nearly a third of its armed forces along the entire border.

Ukrainian soldiers train in the Zhytomyr region near the border with Belarus in late April. (Source: ZUMA)

Mr Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, noted that the Belarus-Ukraine border was mined “unprecedentedly” and that the Ukrainian army would suffer huge losses if Kiev’s soldiers attempted to cross the border.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus would support Russia with artillery shells because the two countries are allies and Russia is currently engaged in an armed conflict.

In an interview with Russia's Rossiya-1 television, Lukashenko said: "The West ... (and) the Ukrainians are criticizing us, saying: 'You are helping Russia'. And why shouldn't we help? ... We are not hiding anything. A war is going on, our allies are fighting."

Last year, Belarus also agreed to let Russia place tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, on the grounds that Russian weapons would help the country ensure its safety against the risk of being "invaded" by the West.

In response to President Lukashenko's warning, on the same day, speaking to the Ukrainska Pravda media outlet, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Border Guard Service, Andrey Demchenko, said that the situation on the border with Belarus remained unchanged.

"As we can see, the rhetoric of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has not changed, constantly escalating the situation in a steady manner to please the terrorist state (Russia). We do not see any increase in the number of equipment or personnel of Belarusian units near our borders," Mr. Demchenko said.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tong-thong-lukashenko-canh-bao-bien-gioi-belarus-ukraine-duoc-gai-min-chua-tung-co-kiev-gay-gat-bac-bo-283098.html