Ukraine says Russia is reducing troops in Belarus

A representative of the Ukrainian border guard agency said that Russia no longer has enough ground forces to launch an attack from Belarus because it has transferred its forces elsewhere.

"Russia has withdrawn almost all of its trained units and completed their rotation in Belarus. They have not deployed any new units here," Andrii Demchenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's border service, said on September 7.

Some Western experts say Russia has moved units from Belarus to the northeastern Ukrainian front, located between the city of Kupyansk in Kharkiv province and Kremennaya in Lugansk province.

Demchenko said Russia currently does not have enough forces on Belarusian territory to be able to attack Ukraine from there.

Location of Chernihiv and Sumy regions. Graphics: RYV — Location of Chernihiv and Sumy regions. Graphics: *RYV*

Mr Demchenko said Russian forces regularly shelled Ukraine's border provinces of Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkov. "Enemy reconnaissance groups are trying to penetrate into Ukrainian territory, most of the activity is recorded in Sumy province," Mr Demchenko said.

Belarus is a close ally of Russia and allowed its neighbor to use its territory to launch attacks on Ukraine when fighting broke out in February 2022.

Ukrainian officials feared earlier this year that a second front could break out on the border with Belarus, after Russia announced it was transferring tactical nuclear weapons to its neighbor.

After Wagner units arrived in Belarus under the June 24 agreement to end the rebellion, Ukrainian officials said they had sent in additional personnel to reinforce the front line with anti-tank weapons and air defense systems. Ukraine also planted more mines in areas bordering Belarus.

However, some senior Ukrainian officials at the time reassured the public by asserting that there were only small groups of Wagner soldiers in Belarus and that "their ranks were chaotic." Ukrainian officials said Wagner soldiers were training Belarusian special forces, but the purpose of the operation was unclear.

Prigozhin and several senior Wagner leaders were killed in a plane crash in Russia on August 23. Belarusian President Lukashenko said on August 25 that Belarus would support Wagner soldiers to continue staying in the country.