Putin-allied Belarus begins large-scale combat readiness drills

(Image credit: Photo by MAXIM GUCHEK/BELTA/AFP via Getty Images)

published 4 May 2022

Belarus, a nation closely allied to Russia, announced Wednesday that its military would engage in large-scale combat readiness drills, Reuters reported.

According to The Kyiv Independent, "local residents reported spotting columns of military vehicles moving in the direction of Ukraine and Lithuania."

The Independent reported that Ukraine's border guard is prepared for the possibility that Belarus could enter the war, but Belarus' defense ministry insisted in a statement the military exercises pose no threat to neighboring countries.

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Ukraine is unlikely to face a Belarusian invasion force pushing south across the countries' shared border. Fighting in the areas of Ukraine that border Belarus stopped early last month when Russia withdrew its forces from around Kyiv. Any troops sent from Belarus would have to take a lengthy journey through Russia to reach the front in southern and eastern Ukraine.

A Belarusian attack on Lithuania, a NATO member, is even less likely.

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.