Former members of russia's Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) have also been observed in the same area. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has urged Belarus to avoid making a grave mistake under Moscow’s pressure.
According to Ukrainian intelligence agencies, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are amassing a significant number of military personnel, including Special Operations Forces, as well as weapons and military equipment such as tanks, artillery, multiple-launch rocket systems, air defense systems, and combat engineering equipment, near Ukraine’s northern border in Gomel Oblast, under the pretext of military training. Former Wagner PMC mercenaries have also been observed in the area.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence: the Wagner Group Faces a New Reality of Fragmentation and Diminished Power
Military exercises in the border region and near the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant pose a threat to both Ukraine’s national security and global safety.
"We warn Belarusian officials not to make tragic mistakes for their country under Moscow's pressure, and we urge its armed forces to cease unfriendly actions and withdraw forces away from Ukraine's state border to a distance greater than the firing range of Belarus' systems.
We emphasize that Ukraine has never taken and is not going to take any unfriendly actions against the Belarusian people.
We warn that in case of a violation of Ukraine's state border by Belarus, our state will take all necessary measures to exercise the right to self-defense guaranteed by the UN Charter. Consequently, all troop concentrations, military facilities, and supply routes in Belarus will become legitimate targets for the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the ministry stated.
According to Belarusian Hajun, as of August 23, a group of at least 1,000 personnel is concentrated in the southern direction. Recently, several helicopters and attack aircraft, as well as a number of units with armored personnel carriers, tanks, and S-300PS air defense systems, have been sent to Gomel Oblast.
Read more: Wagner PMC Militants Continue Training Belarusian Military: Fighters Fire From T-72B Tanks, BMP-2 IFVs, AGS-17
