Russian President Vladimir Putin may be using Belarus to revitalize Russian attacks on Ukraine.
The Times reports that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said last week that his country and Russia would form a joint border force against what he claimed were threats from Ukraine and NATO.
Russia has since deployed 9,000 troops to the border with Belarus, which is 145 miles from Kiev.
Lukashenko said the Belarusian army of about 60,000 soldiers, including conscripts, would be the core of the military force.
The move has fueled fears that Putin may be seeking to open a new front in the nearly eight-month-old war, while facing stiff resistance from Kiev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the UN to be deployed on the border with Belarus to prevent another attack on Kiev.
"Lukashenko and Putin are dragging Belarus into an all-out war against Ukraine," said Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the leader of the Belarusian opposition.
She called the deployment of Russian troops in Belarus an invasion.
"Do not follow the criminal orders of the regime. Refuse to participate in Putin's war', Tikhanovskaya said in a message to the Belarusian military.
Moscow has said it will equip Belarusian Su-25 fighter jets with the ability to fire nuclear missiles. Belarus does not have its own nuclear arsenal. Belarus and Russia have been part of a Union state alliance since 1999, although Lukashenko has resisted Moscow's efforts to take this further.
He has allowed Russia to use his country to launch missiles into Ukraine, but has been reluctant to involve his military directly in the fighting.
Lukashenko said a few days ago that his country supported Russia in the war, but that its citizens had neither killed nor would kill anyone.
He insisted that the border force was entirely defensive in nature.
However, the Belarusian regime relies heavily on Russia for economic and military support and analysts say Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, would find it difficult to refuse a direct "request" from Moscow to enter the conflict.
Big loans and other support from the Kremlin helped Lukashenko quell widespread protests against his rule in 2020.
(BalkanWeb)
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