Ukraine activates military forces near Belarusian border
Enhanced traffic has been registered on the international highway leading to the Ukrainian check point Novyye Yarilovichi at the Belarusian border rec
The freight traffic started exceeding ‘the pre-war level’ in February. Military equipment is being actively shifted in the area now, Radio Liberty reports.
APCs and anti-aircraft guns appeared on the highway on April 4 – 6 days after Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and acting Ukrainian President Alexander Turchinov had met. Lukashenka assured Turchinov that no ‘third state’ military men would cross the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.
A few military machines were parked along the busy highway starting from Kazyalets (148km away from the Belarusian border) at first. The columns were seen accompanied by Ukrainian driving inspectors on April 7.
The concentration of military forces near the Belarusian border can also be explained by the fact that the highway M-03 started in Chernigov Oblast (146km from the Belarusian and 434km – from the Russian border). It leads to the Russian city of Bryansk where Russia concentrated troops before the aggression in Crimea.