Belarus starts military drills near Ukraine border

Belarus will conduct military exercises near the Ukrainian border from Jan. 8 to Jan. 31, the Belarusian Defense Ministry announced on Jan. 8.

The drills will be overseen by the head of the Homel District Executive Committee, according to the ministry.

The exercises will include:

• Receiving and fully equipping reservists from territorial forces using local mobilization resources;
• Refresher training for territorial force commanders on managing their units;
• Preparing reservists for assigned tasks, including joint operations with engineering units of the Armed Forces.

  Receiving and fully equipping reservists from territorial forces using local mobilization resources;

  Refresher training for territorial force commanders on managing their units;

  Preparing reservists for assigned tasks, including joint operations with engineering units of the Armed Forces.

  Earlier, the Belarusian monitoring project Belaruski Hajun reported that Belarus had begun increasing its military presence near the Ukrainian border, deploying additional troops to the area.

  On the same day, Belarus’s self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko, alleged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is “being instructed” to drag Belarus into the war.