Ukrainian units are deployed to monitor the northern region due to concerns about the risk of Russia launching an offensive operation from Belarusian territory.
Every day, reconnaissance drones take off several times from Ukrainian positions deep in the jungle, moving across the border into Belarus, monitoring both in the sky and on the ground for unusual signs. the opposing side.
Ukrainian units are monitoring the 1,000km-long border area in case of a possible surprise attack from the northern border. This scenario happened when Russia launched an attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the early stages of the military campaign.
Since last summer, Ukraine has been strengthening its defenses, building and expanding trenches, and laying mines in the forest to prepare for the scenario that Russia will launch an offensive operation in the spring. Concerns about Russia’s new military campaign surfaced in January after Russia and Belarus held joint air force drills, a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rare visit to the Belarusian capital Minsk.
However, Western military and intelligence experts say that the probability of a new attack from northern Ukraine is not high. The British Ministry of Defense said on January 11 that Russian aircraft and Russian troops in Belarus, although numerous, were “not capable of forming a credible strike force”.
Belarusian officials say the deployment of troops along the Ukrainian border is aimed at “strategic deterrence”. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko also confirmed that he would not send troops to Ukraine. However, Ukrainian commanders remain wary recalling how Russia used Belarus as a launch pad for a military campaign early last year.
“We are constantly monitoring the enemy on the ground and observing the movements of the soldiers, seeing if they are moving, how many are there, and where they are moving,” said Oleksandr, head of the military unit. Ukrainian military newspaper in this area said.
Unlike the eastern front of Ukraine, where intense shelling is taking place, much of the northern front is a war of drones. Commander Oleksandr said Belarus and Russia are constantly monitoring the change and trying to find out the location of the Ukrainian army.
Occasionally, Oleksandr’s unit detects enemy surveillance drones and shoots them down with their rifles. In the event that an enemy drone detects a Ukrainian drone and follows it, then Ukraine will seek to capture and add to its arsenal.
“We recently obtained four of their drones this way and they took two of ours,” said Oleksandr.
Ukrainian Lieutenant General Oleksii Pavlyuk in charge of Kiev province said that Ukraine is preparing for a possible new attack through Belarusian territory. “We have established a unit on the border with Belarus, ready to confront the enemy,” Pavlyuk revealed.
According to Ukrainian officials, it is impossible to know how the Russian military will move in the coming months, so a state of alert should be placed along the border. Ukrainian soldiers were armed with machine guns when fighting in the trenches.
“Fortifications have been set up to prevent re-entry. Whether that happens or not, we must always be ready,” said Mr. Oleksandr.
