Belarusian President Warns of 120,000 Ukrainian Troops on Border – NRK Urix – Foreign News and Documentaries

Belarus faces serious threats, according to the country's President Alexander Lukashenko.

Earlier this week, he gave an interview to state television. The state-run Belta news agency published parts of the interview on Sunday.

There, Lukashenko claims, among other things, that Ukraine has 120,000 troops near the border with Belarus. Faced with the threat, they have sent a third of the army to the border.

– As a witness to their aggressive policy, we have deployed military personnel in selected places, as in a state of war, to defend along the entire border, Lukashenko says in The interview.

This has no roots in reality, as retired Lieutenant General Arne Bard Dalhaug believes:

“This is complete nonsense on Lukashenko’s part,” Dalhaug tells NRK.

-Out of thin air

When Russia attacked Ukraine in full force in February 2022, parts of the offensive were launched from Belarus. Since then, Ukraine has had a military presence along the border. But nothing close to what Lukashenko claims, says Dalhaug:

– 120,000 troops would be a formidable force. It would have to be a number pulled entirely out of thin air.

In recent months, Ukraine has struggled to hold out against Russian invading forces along the 1,000-kilometer-long land front line in Ukraine.

So it came as a big surprise to many when Ukraine entered Russia with large forces on October 6. Since then, they have seized control of 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory in the Kursk and Belgorod regions, Ukraine claims.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Thursday that Ukraine now controls more than 80 villages and settlements near the border. Among other things, Ukraine has taken control of the city of Sudzha.

However, Dalhaug believes they do not have similar plans for Belarus.

– He confirms that no one has any thoughts about entering Belarus.

blowing up bridges

The Ukrainians also stressed that the attack inside Russia was aimed at increasing Ukraine's security, as discussed. Independent Kyiv:

• The attack forced Russia to withdraw its soldiers from the front in Ukraine and send them to Russia.
• Russia has launched several attacks, including air strikes, from Kursk.
• The Ukrainians also attacked columns of military equipment on their way to Ukraine in Kursk.

Ukraine announced on Sunday that it had blown up a bridge in Kursk:

– Another bridge is missing. The head of the Ukrainian Air Force, Mykola Oleshchuk, wrote that the Air Force continues to wrest military capabilities from the enemy through precision strikes. cable.

This is the second bridge over the Semelva in Kursk that the Ukrainians claim to have blown up this weekend. The second bridge was said to have been blown up on Friday. Reuters verified satellite images that show this bridge was destroyed sometime between Friday and Saturday.

He can try to maintain the defensive line.

Dalhaug believes the bridge bombings indicate that the Ukrainians want to hit Russia’s logistics and transportation network. They may not be planning further adventures into Russian territory.

“If you put on your military goggles and you look at a bridge, the question you always ask yourself is: Do I need this bridge to move forward?” says Dalhousie.

• If yes, do not blow up the bridge.
• If the answer is no, that is, you should not proceed, you can blow up the bridge.

“Then you make it difficult for the opponent to attack you,” says Dalhaug.

– The fact that Ukraine is now blowing up some bridges suggests that they don't intend to go any further in this area. That this is almost a line of defense that they will maintain for a while.

The Ukrainian surprise attack in Kursk has received much attention. Meanwhile, hostilities continue in the south of the country. There, Russia continues to make modest advances.

Russia said on Sunday it had captured another Ukrainian settlement, Sverdunivka, in the eastern Donetsk region, several news agencies reported. The reports have not yet been independently verified.

On Sunday night, Russia again fired drones and missiles at Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv. All eight drones and five missiles were shot down.

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