Ukraine fears Russia may use Belarus to disrupt communication, supply lines

October 25, BPN. The build-up of Russian troops in Belarus is a sign that Moscow is preparing for an attempt to take hostilities to new areas of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskiy, commander of Ukraine’s Ground Forces, told ABC News.

“Of course they are getting ready for escalation of the battle and switching the conflict to other combat zones,” he said. “They are getting ready for action aimed at weakening our groupings and, to my mind, the possible purpose of that would be to cut or degrade our lines of communication and supplies.”

Syrskiy noted that Russia risks “stepping on the same rake twice and hitting themselves in the face” by stretching itself too thin in the north.

The day before, Kyrylo Budanov of the Ukrainian defense ministry’s intelligence department said that Russia was unlikely to open a second front from Belarus. He noted that Russia had transferred only some 3,200 people to Belarus and had not formed any assault groups, while Belarus kept sending its military equipment from long-term storage facilities to Russia.