Ukraine’s border guard said on May 7 that Belarus is expanding logistics sites, training grounds and bases near the border that could be opened to Russian forces “at any moment.”
670 miles of frontier with Belarus have been shut since February 2022, when Russian troops used Belarusian territory to attack Kyiv; Ukraine has since mined crossings and built trenches, sensors and anti-tank barriers.
Ukrainian commanders said they see more Belarusian patrols, special forces and police near the border, plus repeated balloons carrying equipment that can relay signals for Russian Shahed drones.
15 to 20 days would be needed to assemble a strike force for an offensive, a Ukrainian general said, but even a limited incursion in western Ukraine could threaten Rivne, Lutsk and routes carrying Western arms toward the front.
200 miles from Kyiv, the border buildup is forcing Ukraine to divert troops and engineering resources from other fronts as Kyiv warns Moscow may be trying to draw Belarus deeper into the war.
Is Belarus’s military buildup a genuine prelude to invasion or a grand deception to divert Ukraine’s forces?
With Russian nuclear weapons now 'combat ready' in Belarus, is Europe on the brink of a new security crisis?