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19-05-2026
KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Russia was seeking to draw Belarus deeper into its war in Ukraine and was weighing plans to attack Ukraine’s north or a NATO country from Belarusian territory.
“We continue to document Russia’s attempts to draw Belarus deeper into the war against Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app after meeting military and intelligence officials.
He said Ukraine knew of additional contacts between Russia and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to persuade him to join “new Russian aggressive operations”.
“Russia is considering plans for operations to the south and north of Belarusian territory either against the Chernihiv-Kyiv direction in Ukraine or against one of the NATO countries directly from the territory of Belarus,” he said, without providing any further details. Belarus borders Ukraine to the south, and NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia to the north and west.
There was no immediate response to Zelenskiy’s comments from Moscow or Minsk. Moscow does not disclose its military plans in Ukraine, which are classified as state secrets. Lukashenko, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, allowed his territory to be used for part of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbor, although he has not sent Belarusian troops to fight there.
Minsk has since agreed to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons and hypersonic Oreshnik missiles on its territory.
Zelenskiy said last month that Ukraine had intelligence that Russia was making preparations that showed it would once again try to involve Belarus in its more than four-year-old war.
“Ukraine will undoubtedly defend itself and its people if Alexander Lukashenko makes the wrong call and decides to support this Russian intention as well,” he said.
Zelenskiy said he had instructed Ukraine’s defence forces to prepare a response plan and to strengthen defences in the northern Chernihiv and Kyiv regions.
In April, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said that Ukraine believed Russia was making preparations that showed that it would once again try to involve its ally Belarus in the four-year-old war pitting Kyiv against Moscow.
Zelenskiy made his remarks, posted on the Telegram messaging app, in response to what he said was an intelligence report issued by Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“According to intelligence, road construction in areas leading to Ukraine and the establishment of artillery positions are going on in the Belarusian border area,” Zelenskiy wrote.
“We believe that Russia will once again try to involve Belarus in its war.”
Zelenskiy said Ukraine had issued instructions to warn the Belarusian leadership of “Ukraine’s readiness to defend its land and independence”.
He also said intelligence showed that Russia was “attempting … to carry out a regrouping of forces most likely to compensate for a shortage of personnel.”
“In this regard, it becomes more evident why the armed forces increased their activity on the territory of Belarus.” He did not provide further evidence.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, one of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, allowed his territory to be used for part of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its smaller neighbor.
Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has said he has no intention of committing troops to the war in Ukraine but Belarus, which borders NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, has since agreed to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons and Russia’s hypersonic Oreshnik missiles. (Int’l News Desk)
