Lukashenko assures that Belarus will not enter the war in Ukraine

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country will not enter the war in Ukraine with Russia, following reports of an alleged covert mobilisation and the creation of a joint force of his country with thousands of Russian troops and war materiel on the southern border.

"Pay no attention to this howling (media noise). We are not going anywhere today. There is no war today. We don't need it," he said during a visit to a military-industrial complex at the Obuz-Lesnovsky combined arms training camp in the Brest region near the Polish border.

"We have to calm down. Everyone should do their own thing if we want there to be no war," Lukashenko added.

The Belarusian daily Nasha Niva reported on Monday that it was receiving "indications from all over the country that men are receiving notifications to report to enlistment offices" as part of a "hidden mobilisation".

The Ukrainian General Staff Command noted in its daily evening war part on the 18th that "covert mobilisation of the Armed Forces of Belarus continues under the guise of training sessions".

According to his information, steps were being taken to train operators of anti-aircraft missile systems and tank crews.

The deputy head of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksiy Gromov, said at the same time the day before that "the threat of the Russian Armed Forces resuming the offensive on the northern front is growing".

"This time, the direction of the offensive may be shifted to the west of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border in order to cut off the main logistical arteries of arms and military equipment supplies to Ukraine from partner countries," he said.

According to the military official, Belarusian airfields have MiG-31 aircraft that can be armed with Kinzhal-type cruise missiles.

On the same day Russian aviation began patrolling the borders of the State Union that Russia maintains with Belarus.

On Thursday, the Belarusian portal of Radio Svoboda reported on the basis of satellite images that Russia is massing forces and military equipment at the Belarusian airfield of Zyabrivka in the Gomel region near the Ukrainian border as part of the strengthening of the joint Russian-Belarusian military grouping.

On 11 February, Zelensky proposed sending an international observer mission to the Ukrainian border with Belarus, which he accuses of involvement in the Russian war by lending its territory for attacks against Ukraine.

It did this not only in February so that Russia could enter northern Ukraine from Belarus in its failed attempt to take Kiev, but also in the eight months of the armed conflict, including to launch Iranian drones and missiles, according to Ukraine.

On the 10th, Lukashenko announced that he had agreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to deploy a joint regional group of troops because of "the aggravation of the western borders of the State Union".

According to Minsk, the total number of the Russian component of the group will be up to 9,000 military personnel, some 170 tanks, up to 200 armoured combat vehicles and up to 100 guns and mortars with a calibre of more than 100 millimetres.