Ukraine will militarily reinforce its border with Belarus, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Friday after chairing a meeting of the General Staff, where he was briefed on the evolution of the situation on the battlefield.
“The decision of the General Staff [transmitida] to the commander in chief [Valery] Zaluzhni and the commander of ‘Pivnich’ [Norte, Sergei] Naiev will take a series of measures to strengthen this front,” the Ukrainian president wrote in the personal account on the Telegram social network.
Zelensky said that before making the decision, he had heard reports from the Supreme Commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valeri Zaluzhni, and the commanders of the ground forces, Oleksandr Sirski, from the Tavria Operational Group, Oleksandr Tarnavski, and from the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian army, Sergei Naiev.
“Situation on the battlefield: progress is being made. Strengthening our operations with artillery systems and additional missiles,” he said, underlining that the Defense Intelligence Service of Ukraine (GUR), the External Intelligence Service (SZR), the Ukraine Defense Intelligence Agency (SBU) ) and the State Border Guard Service (DPSU) reported separately on the situation in Belarus.
“We are constantly monitoring the situation,” Zelensky said.
Russian businessman and leader of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, went to Belarus as part of an agreement with Moscow to end the uprising he promoted with his mercenaries in Russia last Friday and Saturday.
Prigozhin, a former Kremlin ally who founded Russia’s most powerful private army, has recruited thousands of prisoners to fight in Ukraine alongside contract fighters deployed in Syria, Africa and Latin America.
According to the announcement of Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko, Wagner’s leader arrived in Belarus on Tuesday.
Prigozhin’s presence in Belarus was immediately criticized by Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaia, who recalled that the leader of the Wagner group and the Belarusian president “are not allies and can be disloyal to each other are”.
“Lukashenko can betray Prigozhin at any time or Prigozhin can betray Lukashenko. They are not allies. They don’t trust each other,” Tikhanovskaya said.
Tikhanovskaya, who claimed victory over Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election, stressed that “much remains to be clarified” about the alleged deal.
Source: DN
