Ukrainian military train near Belarus border

December 4, BPN. The Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted exercises near the border with Belarus, Lt Gen Oleksandr Pavliuk said on Telegram on December 3.

“The joint staff training of the 120 Separate Territorial Defense Brigade and its subordinate military units was completed yesterday in the defense zone near a section of Belarus’ border,” he said.

“Work was carried out to improve interaction between the lower and higher headquarters. Practical skills, abilities and coherence between the commanding officers and subordinate personnel were checked,” he added.

On December 3, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Minsk to meet with his Belarusian counterpart Viktar Chrenin and Alaksandr Łukašenka.

The details remain sketchy. Shoigu and Chrenin signed a protocol amending the 1997 agreement on regional security. Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja criticized the undisclosed protocol as “shameful.”

Kyiv says there are no signs of an invasion build-up in Belarus.