Ukraine is strengthening defenses in the north, pointing to the risk of a new Russian offensive north of Kyiv
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Ukraine will send reinforcements to its northern regions and increase pressure on Belarus to counter what Kyiv believes are Russian plans to launch a new offensive north of the capital, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy said that Kyiv is aware of five conditions that Russia has created for itself to increase the war in the north.
“We have thoroughly analyzed the information received from our intelligence agencies about Russia’s planning of offensive actions near Chernihiv-Kyiv,” Zelenskyy told X, referring to the city north of the capital on the main road to Belarus. “Our strength in this field will increase.”
In recent weeks, Zelenskyy has issued new warnings about a possible threat to northern Ukraine from Belarus, a close ally of Russia. He said that Ukraine had recorded unusual incidents along the border, without giving details.
Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s top military commander, said on Tuesday that Kyiv had information that the Russian General Staff was calculating and planning an attack in the north.
There was no immediate comment from Russia or Belarus.
Ukraine and Russia have been in a state of perpetual war for more than four years, since Moscow launched its all-out attack on its neighbor in February 2022.
Threat from Belarus
Zelenskyy said Moscow was trying to draw Belarus, which allowed Russian troops to march into Ukraine on its territory in 2022, deeper into the war.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine will prepare “additional diplomatic influence measures regarding Belarus,” he added, without elaborating.
Speaking later in his late-night video address, Zelenskyy said “it is worrying that there is always such a threat in Ukraine that the Russians might drag Belarus into an escalation of the war.
“They have to understand that there will be consequences for them and it will matter.”
In the first full-scale attack in 2022, Ukraine succeeded in repulsing a large column of Russian artillery that attempted to attack Kyiv from the north.
Minsk remains a staunch supporter of Moscow in the war. Russian drones overran Belarus while attacking Ukraine, and Minsk said they used the Russian Oreshnik intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile system.
“As of now, we have not received any movement of equipment or personnel directly on our border, however, we are seeing the pressure that Russia is putting on Belarus,” Ukrainian border guard spokesman Andriy Demchenko told Ukrinform media on Wednesday.
Five years after the war with Russia, Ukraine is facing ongoing labor problems. Andrew Chang explores the benefits and limitations of using unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) on the front line, in Ukraine and beyond. Photos provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters, Adobe Stock and Getty Images
