Russia could Inflate Threat of Belarusian Military Drills

The latest intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence focuses on the situation in Belarus, north of Ukraine, where it was reported yesterday that large-scale military drills were taking place.

The MoD said that “Belarusian land forces had been observed deploying from garrisons to the field for exercises, and that this was likely part of the country’s winter training cycle.”

It said that Russia would “likely seek to inflate the threat posed to Ukraine by these exercises in order to fix Ukrainian forces in the north” and prevent them from being committed to the battle for the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.

Belarus, a longtime ally of Russia, has been sanctioned by the UK for “facilitating the invasion from within its borders.”

BBC /Shakirat Sadiq