Ukrainian authorities have placed more than 6,000 anti-tank mines along the border with Belarus in operations aimed at strengthening the country’s defense line, Ukraine’s defense ministry said on Saturday.
Quoted by the Spanish agency Europa Press, the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, Sergei Nayev, reported that defense operations along the border with Belarus (north of the country) are progressing at “a good pace” and that in addition to the deployment of 6,000 mines, seven kilometers of trenches were built in positions close to the dividing line between the two countries.
“The expansion of barriers in the border areas with Belarus continues with the installation of minefields” in areas accessible to tanks or routes that “the enemy could use to enter the country,” the official explained.
Tensions between the two countries have increased in recent weeks, especially since Belarus announced an agreement with Russia for the deployment of strategic weapons and denounced the presence of a force of about 17,000 Ukrainian soldiers said to be close to the border .
Belarusian forces also began operations to strengthen the border and build new defenses, engineering structures and a second line of trenches.
Source: DN
