Russia trying to 'drag' Belarus in military offensive against Kyiv: Ukraine Intelligence

Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the Ukrainian intelligence agency has claimed that Russia is trying to "drag" Belarus into military aggression against Kyiv. The Chief Directorate of Intelligence agency of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry has claimed that air strikes in Ukraine came directly from Belarus. It further stated that the shelling carried out in Ukraine on June 25 was "directly related to the efforts of the Kremlin authorities to drag Belarus into the war in Ukraine as a direct participant,'' RT reported. 

The Ukrainian intelligence agency claimed that shelling from Belarus has been carried out in several parts of Ukraine. According to Ukraine's intelligence agency, "a massive missile shelling" using rockets fired by Russia from Petrikov city of Belarus was reported after 5 am in Chernihiv, Kyiv and Sumy regions on Saturday, June 25, as per the RT report. Ukraine's intelligence agency stated that the "Russian sabotage groups" reached Mozyr in Belarus intending to attack residential buildings, schools and hospitals. The Chief Directorate of Intelligence agency of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry claimed that the "possible provocations" could be presented as Ukraine's retaliation to the air strikes. Earlier, Ukraine's intelligence agency had said that the provocation could result in Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko not being able to avoid the involvement of Minsk in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, as per the news report. The statement of Ukraine intelligence came at a time when Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart in St. Petersburg on June 25. 

Ukraine claims 4,000-6,000 Belarusian troops present along the border 

Meanwhile, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has claimed that Belarusian forces have not been able to initiate a military offensive in Ukraine without the involvement of Russian troops, Ukrinform reported. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine spokesperson Vadym Skibitsky has said that the forces of Belarus have been deploying seven battalions of the army on a rotational basis near the Ukrainian border. The Ukraine intelligence has estimated that 4,000-6,000 Belarusian soldiers would be present along the border, with around 1,500 Russian soldiers. Skibitsky said that separate units of the Russian special operations forces along with Belarus held joint exercises to carry out the action in Ukraine, as per the Ukrinform report. He stressed that the "main threat is about sabotage and reconnaissance groups." 

Image: AP