First echelons with Russian troops within the joint regional group of forces have arrived in Belarus, the Belarusian Defence Ministry reported on its Telegram channel.
“The soldiers were warmly welcomed with bread and salt [a welcome greeting ceremony in some Slavic countries — translator’s note],” the ministry wrote.
“We have come to the Republic of Belarus to help our brotherly Belarusian people. We are ready to fulfil any objectives that we receive from our command. We are in fighting spirits,” Viktor Smeyan, deputy chief of the Russian company that arrived in Belarus, said in a video published by the ministry.
On 14 October, Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said in an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia that Belarus had imposed a counter-terrorism operation regime on its territory. Later, the country’s KGB disproved this report. However, Alyaksandar Lukashenka confirmed even later that a counter-terrorism operation regime had indeed been declared in Belarus.
On 10 October, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus’ Alyaksandar Lukashenka agreed to deploy a joint regional group of forces. Lukashenka also stated that Ukraine was allegedly planning to strike Belarus and that the Ukrainian army had begun establishing a second front on the Belarusian border. On 11 October, Ivan Tertel, the head of Belarus’ KGB, accused Ukraine and Western countries of preparing terrorist attacks on the territory of Belarus.
According to Tertel, foreign intelligence agencies “prepared from 100 to 300 militants” in Ukraine to conduct an “armed seizure of a district centre on Belarus’ territory to later use it a foothold for further development of the offensive operation”.
