Ukraine sees no signs of preparations for an offensive by Belarus, State Border Guard Service of Ukraine spokesman Andrii Demchenko said on the Ranok.LIVE program, commenting on reports of the formation of a new brigade in Belarus near the Ukrainian border. The brigade will be stationed near Homiel.
Journalists asked Demchenko whether the creation of the new 37th Separate Air Assault Brigade on the Ukrainian border was a sign of potential escalation.
Demchenko recalled that since 2022, Belarus has regularly claimed that it faces a threat from Ukraine and has also said it is strengthening its defense capabilities on the border with Ukraine. He stressed that Belarus speaks of increasing its military presence on the border even though it is carrying out routine rotations of units.
“Since 2022, Belarus has kept certain units in the direction of our border, a small number of them. They are rotated. And when this rotation takes place, they again emphasize that they are strengthening their presence, although in fact they are simply replacing the units that were there and bringing in new ones.
There has also been rhetoric about creating the Southern Operational Command, again with an emphasis on the claim that there is a threat from Ukraine. And, in fact, all the infrastructure they are expanding is for the creation of this Southern Operational Command, as is the rhetoric they are now using regarding the creation of a new brigade,” the State Border Guard Service representative said.
Ukraine does not consider the formation of the new brigade to pose a threat to the country.
“In fact, there is no reason to expect now that this is some kind of force that could pose a threat to our country there,” Demchenko said.
