Ukraine does not spot additional Belarusian troops being deployed to the border amid Minsk's claims of reinforcing the border, State Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko said on Aug. 11.
His statement came a day after Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko ordered reinforcements to be sent to border areas near Ukraine following reports of several drones from Ukraine getting shot down over Belarus on Aug. 9.
Lukashenko ordered to strengthen military presence in the Gomel and Mozyr directions, including sending the Polonez rocket systems and Iskander mid-range ballistic missile complexes there. On the Ukrainian side, the area borders Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Chernihiv oblasts.
Demchenko called the actions of Minsk "a whipping up to play along with Russia." The spokesperson did not rule out that Belarus could take photos and videos "for information influence."
"The situation along the border is fully controlled. We do not record the movement of either equipment or personnel near our border," Demchenko said.
Russian drones have crossed into Belarusian airspace several times over the summer on their way to attack Ukraine, the Belarusian Hajun monitoring group has reported.
The monitoring group said that "despite the massive and regular flights of drones into the airspace of Belarus," Minsk made "practically no comments" on the situation.
After claiming Ukrainian drones entered Belarus, Minsk summoned Ukraine’s Charge d’Affaires to Belarus on Aug. 10.
Maria Yeryoma
(Updated: )
