A little under 9,000 Russian soldiers will form part of the regional group on forces in Belarus, Valery Revenka, head of the Belarusian defence ministry’s international military cooperation department, said on Twitter.
The Belarusian defence ministry also reported that aviation units forming part of the regional group of forces had started arriving in Belarus from Russia.
Earlier, Alyaksandar Lukashenka confirmed that a counter-terrorism operation regime had 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.
