First Russian troops arrive for joint force in Belarus: Ministry
The first group of Russian soldiers have arrived in Belarus to take part in a new joint force with the host country’s troops to “strengthen the protection and defense of the border” with Ukraine.
"The first convoys of Russian servicemen from the regional force group have arrived in Belarus," the country’s defense ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry said that their mission was "exclusively to strengthen the protection and defense of the border.”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Monday that Ukraine was plotting to attack his country, and announced the joint force with Moscow.
Lukashenko accused Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine of training Belarusian radicals "to carry out sabotage, terrorist attacks and to organize a military mutiny in the country.”
He said on Friday that the Belarusian army and its 70,000 people would constitute the "base" of this joint force.
The president did not specify how many Russian soldiers were expected to join, but said, "We do not need to ask for 10,000-15,000 people from Russia. They have other issues over there, as you know.”
According to Minsk, the contingent was "purely defensive.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia on Tuesday of "trying to directly draw Belarus into this war.”
Lukashenko, however, said his country supported Russia but "we did not kill anyone and we are not going to kill anyone."
"No one asked us to get involved in this operation, not Russia in this case, and we do not intend to get involved," he said.
President Putin ordered a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. At the time, Putin said one of the goals of what he called a “special military operation” was to “de-Nazify” Ukraine.
Belarusian armed forces have up to now not taken part in the war in Ukraine.
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