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Ukrainian officials said Russia’s main motive for trying to involve Belarus in the war is rooted in its need to have the Belarusian army at its “disposal”.
“Moscow’s desire to cover up its lack of military capabilities is at the root of attempts to involve Belarus in the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenkyy’s adviser Mikhail Podolyak said Wednesday. “Russia needs the disposal of the Belarusian army and the loss of power of the Lukashenko regime.”
Kiev has sounded the alarm that Belarus may decide to go to war to aid Russia’s “special military operation” and this week Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko hinted that a “great war” was on the horizon.
BELARUS LAUNCHES MILITARY EXERCISES ON THE BORDER WITH UKRAINE, TESTS THE READY OF THE TROOPS
Russian troops launched part of their initial invasion of Ukraine from the Belarusian border, and Moscow reassembled its troops there after failing to bring Kiev about a month into the war.
But Lukashenko, the only European leader to express support for Putin’s war in Ukraine, had largely remained out of the war effort until at the end of June he allowed Russian aircraft to launch missiles into Belarusian airspace.
On Tuesday, the controversial leader – accused of corruption following allegedly rigged presidential elections in 2020 – re-proposed the speeches of Russian President Vladimir Putin and accused the West of instigating a global war.
GRAPHIC IMAGE WARNING:
BY JULY, THE UKRAINIANS ARE PREPARING FOR THE INVASION OF THE EARTH GUIDED BY BELARUS, CARRYING OUT THE WAR OF PUTIN
“The West is bringing the world closer to the abyss of a great war in which there will be no winner,” Lukashenko said according to a Business Insider report. “The events taking place today in Belarus and Russia require extreme vigilance and concentration.”
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Lukashenko accused the West of leading a “Drang nach Osten” term coined by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler during World War II as the conflict spread to Eastern Europe.
Zelenskyy said last month that Ukrainian forces were “bracing themselves for all the risks of an invasion” from its northern neighbor.