Brian Whitmore writes:

With war raging in Ukraine’s east and south, there are mounting concerns that the threat to the country’s north and west, including the capital Kyiv, could soon return.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka said on June 10 that Belarus may be forced to enter the war to fight for the west of Ukraine so that it is “not chopped off” by NATO. The Belarusian dictator’s remarks came as Minsk was reinforcing its electronic warfare capabilities along the Ukrainian border, according to a Facebook post by the Ukrainian General Staff. “Combat engineering tasks are being performed to reinforce checkpoints and deploy additional electronic warfare equipment in the areas near the border between Belarus and Ukraine,” the General Staff wrote.

Additionally, Belarus has been conducting military exercises in the area and Lukashenka has announced the creation of an operational command for troops on the border with Ukraine. Russia has recently deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles, Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft gun systems, and S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems near the frontier. Alongside these developments, Lukashenka has announced the purchase of S-400s and Iskanders from Russia. The Belarusian autocrat has also ordered the creation of a “people’s militia.”

According to a confidential unpublished report by the Center for Strategic and Foreign Policy Studies, Lukashenka met in early June with Ihar Shunevich, the former Interior Minister who now heads the Belarusian Society of Hunters and Fishermen, and ordered him to provide five thousand men for the militia. The report also noted that Russian Private Military Companies like the Wagner Group have been actively recruiting Belarusians recently. [Continue reading…]