Russia no longer has troops in place

Ukrainian official says Russia no longer has troops in place to launch a ground offensive from Belarus

Yulia Kesaieva and Tim Lister

Russia has moved most of its units training in Belarus to other areas and no longer has enough ground forces in place to launch an offensive from its ally's territory, a Ukrainian border official said Thursday.

“Russia does not have a necessary strike group on the territory of Belarus that would be ready and able to invade the territory of Ukraine,” Andrii Demchenko, a spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, said during a briefing in Kyiv.

“At this point, Russia has withdrawn almost all of its units that have been trained and completed their rotation. However, no new units have been deployed there,” Demchenko said.

Some independent analysts have said Russia moved the units from Belarus to the northeastern front in Ukraine, between the besieged city of Kupiansk and nearby Kreminna.

Remember: Belarus is one of Russia's most steadfast allies. It helped Russia launch its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, allowing the Kremlin’s troops to enter the country through the 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) Ukrainian-Belarusian border to the north of Kyiv.

Other actions near the border: Demchenko said Russia is regularly shelling the Ukrainian regions of Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv, which lie just east of Belarus along Ukraine's northern border with Russia.

In those areas, "the enemy is also trying to use sabotage and reconnaissance groups to try to enter the territory of Ukraine," the border official said. “Most of these attempts are recorded in Sumy region.”

Ukraine recently announced measures to fortify its northern border, as well as ban certain activities close to the border.