Are the new Russian forces in Belarus a feint or preparation for a new push into Ukraine HEAD TOPICS

Are the new Russian forces in Belarus a feint or preparation for a new push into Ukraine

10/22/2022 12:00:00 PM

As Russia moved thousands of troops into Belarus Ukraine and the Pentagon played down the likelihood that Moscow would launch a new push into Ukraine from the north

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New York Times World

Russia is massing thousands of troops in its western neighbor Belarus ahead of what could be the opening of a new front aimed at disrupting the flow of Western military aid from Poland, according to defense officials in Latvia and Ukraine. As Russia moved thousands of troops into Belarus Ukraine and the Pentagon played down the likelihood that Moscow would launch a new push into Ukraine from the north President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus during joint military exercises held between Russia and Belarus in February, ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Credit...Emile Ducke for The New York TimesRIGA, Latvia — Russia is massing thousands of troops in its western neighbor Belarus ahead of what could be the opening of a new front aimed at disrupting the flow of Western military aid from Poland, according to defense officials in Latvia and Ukraine. However, the assembled forces, about 10,000 troops, may still be too weak to make a successful new thrust south from Belarus, Latvia’s defense minister, Artis Pabriks, said on Friday.“We have to be cautious, but I doubt that Russians are at this moment capable of opening another front line against Ukraine, at least not a successful front,” Mr. Pabriks said in an interview in Riga, the capital of Latvia, which borders both Russia and Belarus. Read more:
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The series returns to Philadelphia tied up 1-1. Read more >> Well I guess we will just have to bring them weapons threw a different spot then Belarus army has 'minimal capability,' won't be able to help Russia: U.K.Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said there would be a joint Belarusian-Russian force to fight in Ukraine. What a Despicable Suck-Hole this Grubby Weakling and War Crime Enabler really is! Oxygen Thief! Even tho they have a limited army if they can help Russia why can’t other countries help Ukraine. Everyone be had me so sad in January. I was thinking 🇷🇺 fighting 🇺🇦 was going to be a brutal end to that country but 🇺🇦 is beating the bully and the bully needs help. If Belarus puts boots on the ground in Ukraine than other NATO countries will get a chance. Nd they will send Proxy in Belarus 2 topple d pro Russian administration nd Install a puppet regime there. NATO and Russia Run Nuclear-War Drills Amid Tensions Over UkraineBoth exercises are annual events, but their timing this year comes against the backdrop of the largest conflict in Europe since World War II. BambinoJalapeno Wtf are we doing Saudi Arabia is underwriting Putin's war in Ukraine through OPEC+. The Saudis have sanctioned the torture, rape and murder of Ukrainian women and children. It is now Putin, Trump and Saudi Arabia against Ukraine and the United States. Notice how WSJ writes 'war in Ukraine' not 'Putin's invasion of Ukraine'? They make it sound like a civil war. It is not. News brief: Iran denies helping Russia in Ukraine, U.K. politics, asbestos issuesIran faces sanctions over drones being used against Ukraine. There's turmoil and distrust over Britain's two-month-old government. Despite safe alternatives, chemical companies still use asbestos. Five reasons why Biden must move to de-escalate the Russia-Ukraine war nowOne analyst says the US and Russia have entered a high risk period of of the ongoing war in Ukraine and and says its time for President Biden to de-escalate the war before things get worse. He will not because it is all about money, power and principal, logic does not enter the equation Great, five reasons to de-escalate, not one answer as to how. One reason not to de-escalate, Ukraine is destroying our enemy. When did conservative Pubs go all out Neville Chamberlain? VoteRedToSaveAmerica2022 Fact Check: Has Russia lost more men in Ukraine than U.S. in recent wars?Ukraine has claimed that Russia has lost 66,280 troops since the start of the war, although other estimates puts the figure at much lower. putin wouldn't call a general mobilization if he was losing soldier on a low scale. Ukraine is lying 🤔 Was this Ukraine's estimate before or after cocaine session? 💩 Russia planning mass withdrawal to avoid 'devastating rout' in Ukraine: ISWKherson residents and pro-Russian officials began to leave Kherson on Wednesday amid Ukrainian advances. Amid threats that zelensky wats to bomb a dam and murder thousands by flooding Why is Comrade not using 🇮🇷kamikaze Shaheed 132 Drones in 🇺🇦Kherson.? Image President Aleksandr G.Vladimir Putin Belarus is unlikely to join forces with Russia in fighting in Ukraine any time soon, according to British defense officials.Annual exercises proceed despite Putin’s nuclear threats as alliance stresses need for training to reinforce deterrent Russian President Vladimir Putin declared martial law in four partially occupied Ukrainian territories on Wednesday.Facebook. Lukashenko of Belarus during joint military exercises held between Russia and Belarus in February, ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Credit. Belarus has stayed away from direct involvement in the war in Ukraine so far, although its location north of Ukraine was used as a springboard for Russia's invasion in February... British defense officials dismissed on October 21 the prospect that Belarus would join forces with Russia and fight in the war in Ukraine. Emile Ducke for The New York Times RIGA, Latvia — Russia is massing thousands of troops in its western neighbor Belarus ahead of what could be the opening of a new front aimed at disrupting the flow of Western military aid from Poland, according to defense officials in Latvia and Ukraine. However, the assembled forces, about 10,000 troops, may still be too weak to make a successful new thrust south from Belarus, Latvia’s defense minister, Artis Pabriks, said on Friday. But on Friday, the British Ministry of Defense dismissed the prospect of an imminent Russian-Belarusian force, saying that it is unlikely that Russia has actually deployed a significant number of extra troops into Belarus. “We have to be cautious, but I doubt that Russians are at this moment capable of opening another front line against Ukraine, at least not a successful front,” Mr. Pabriks said in an interview in Riga, the capital of Latvia, which borders both Russia and Belarus. Could Belarus Join Putin's Troops in Ukraine? Read more Could Belarus Join Putin's Troops in Ukraine? "The Belarussian military highly likely maintains minimal capability to undertake complex operations," the defense officials said. An announcement last week by Belarus that it was forming a new joint military force with Russia stirred alarm in the West that the Kremlin might be preparing a new ground assault with help from Belarusian forces. Russia massed troops in Belarus ahead of its initial attack on Ukraine in February." Newsweek has contacted the Belarusian Foreign Ministry for comment. On Thursday, a Ukrainian general, Oleksiy Gromov, said that the threat of a possible invasion from Belarus was growing. He said that a new attack would likely not drive toward Kyiv — which lies just 60 miles from the border with Belarus — but rather to the west of the capital, nearer to the Polish border. An offensive south from western Belarus into Ukrainian territory near the border with Poland could disrupt the flow of weapons to Ukraine from the United States and its allies, much of which passes through Poland. The military officials in Riga and Kyiv did not say precisely where the Russian troops were gathering, nor why they believed a new offensive could occur closer to Poland than to Kyiv. Russia used the territory of Belarus, its closest military and political ally, as a staging ground for its February invasion and has since launched missiles and drones into Ukraine from there. But President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, Belarus’s veteran strongman leader, has resisted Russia’s pressure to get directly involved in the war. On Friday, Mr. Lukashenko said it would be undesirable for Belarusian military equipment to be used in Ukraine and denied his country’s troops were training for war, adding “no war today. We don’t need it,” the state news agency Belta reported. Mr. Lukashenko made a similar statement in February, just days before Russia invaded Ukraine from his territory. On Friday, Ukraine’s armed forces said in a statement that if the country were attacked again from Belarus, it would “respond as fiercely as we respond to all occupiers.” A new front in the north would inevitably pull Ukrainian forces away from the south and east, where they have launched offensives to take back land Russia captured early in the war. The flurry of military activity in Belarus in recent days, Britain’s defense ministry said on Friday, is “likely an attempt to demonstrate Russian-Belarusian solidarity and to convince Ukraine to divert forces to guard the northern border. ” Noting claims by Mr. Lukashenko that 70,000 Belarusians and 15,000 Russians would be involved in their new joint force, Britain’s defense ministry said it was unlikely that Russia had actually deployed significant forces and added that Belarus “maintains minimal capability to undertake complex operations.” Vadym Skibitsky, a spokesman for Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, said in an interview that Ukraine also did not see an immediate threat of another attack from Belarus. Several thousand newly mobilized Russian soldiers are deployed in Belarus at training sites, Mr. Skibitsky said, but they are not accompanied by tanks, artillery or fuel trucks and other logistical support they would need to invade and face Ukraine’s battle-hardened troops. “We see these elements now moving into Belarus, but we do not see the movement of equipment,” he said. Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, also played down the likelihood of a new Russian invasion from Belarus. “We don’t currently have any indications of a potential imminent military action on that front,” he told a briefing on Thursday. Andrew E. Kramer contributed reporting from Kyiv, Ukraine. — .