May 20, Pozirk. Russia is considering attack scenarios against the northern regions of Ukraine from Belarus or Russia’s Bryansk province, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in an address to Ukrainians following today’s meeting of the military command.
“We are already working to strengthen our defenses in this area,” he noted. “The military command has been given the necessary instructions, but we are also taking separate preventive measures regarding both Belarus and certain parts of Russia from which the threat originates.”
The politician added that he expects the Ukrainian foreign ministry “to be as active as possible in its diplomatic efforts regarding Belarus.”
“We need to step up the pressure and strengthen coordination with our partners,” Zelensky said. “I’m tired of the fact that there is a constant threat to Ukraine and that the Russians might, at some point, drag Belarus into an escalation of the war. They need to understand: there will be consequences for them, and they will be significant.”
Ukrainian intelligence agencies have been tasked with “additional objectives” regarding the threat from the Belarusian direction, he added, without elaborating further.
Earlier today, Zelensky said that Ukraine will reinforce the Chernihiv-Kyiv area in the north of the country amid threats from Belarus.
