Belarus President Lukashenko claims West planning to 'conquer' western Ukraine: Report

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, on June 10, said that Western countries could allegedly be preparing an invasion to conquer Western Ukraine. In an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda, Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said, ”They [Western nations] will come from Western Ukraine or somewhere else.” According to the Belarusian leader, the West hasn’t abandoned the goal of aligning the front “so that it passes from Smolensk-Pskov, Smolensk-Bryansk-Kursk and from there to Rostov.” 

“They [Western countries] need to align the front. And we are this thousand-kilometre balcony, so it must be cut off,” the Belarusian President said.

"They (the West) will not stop there,” he added.

Belarus is an 'object of pressure' to deter West: Lukashenko

Lukashenko emphasised that Belarus is an "object of pressure" to deter the West mainly due to geopolitical reasons. “We will have to fight for Western Ukraine so that it is not chopped off. Because this is death for us, not only for Ukrainians. Terrible processes are underway," the Belarus President told the Ukrayinska Pravda. He also urged his country to draw lessons from the post-election anti-government protests that were sparked in 2020 and “prevent a repeat of the Ukrainian scenario.” The US, Canada and the UK have also placed sanctions on Belarusian government officials, and allies of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko citing the leader’s increasing political repression and corruption. 

As war in Ukraine ensued, Belarus deployed more than 50 units of military equipment from Grodno to Brest Oblast and started military exercises on the border with Ukraine. The latter's military, in its daily war update, accused Russian forces of using Belarus as a launch pad to operate a medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems Pantsir, S-400 missile systems, and operational and tactical aircraft to attack Ukraine. 

BelTA had earlier reported that Belarus Army will undertake military mobilisation drills in the Gomel region in June and July. Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces warned that Minsk aims to expand the size of its armed forces from 45,000 to 80,000 soldiers.

“As part of creating a southern operational command centre, the number of personnel in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus is planned to increase to 80,000 people. New military units will be equipped with military equipment that is currently in storage," they said in a Telegram update.