{"id":168576,"date":"2025-12-17T13:47:54","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T10:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"lithuania-russia-has-several-thousand-troops-in-belarus-not-hundreds-of-thousands","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania: Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus, not hundreds of thousands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1128\" height=\"752\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/kalashnikov_ostro_org_1128x752.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/kalashnikov_ostro_org_1128x752.jpg 1128w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/kalashnikov_ostro_org_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/kalashnikov_ostro_org_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/kalashnikov_ostro_org_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/kalashnikov_ostro_org_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1128px) 100vw, 1128px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(ostro.org)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>December 17, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus in non-manoeuvrable units, the Lithuanian defense ministry said today, denying reports that as many as 300,000 Russian forces are stationed in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, Russia lacks the capacity to deploy many troops in Belarus, as it is focusing all efforts on its military operations against Ukraine, it noted on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reports of at least 360,000 combat-ready Russian troops stationed in Belarus circulated yesterday in German media that cited Roderich Kiesewetter, a retired Bundeswehr colonel and a foreign policy expert in the CDU\/CSU parliamentary group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Rsd10_Pioner_wikimedia_20110512-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Rsd10_Pioner_wikimedia_20110512-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Rsd10_Pioner_wikimedia_20110512-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Rsd10_Pioner_wikimedia_20110512-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Rsd10_Pioner_wikimedia_20110512-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Rsd10_Pioner_wikimedia_20110512.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                            <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Security<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics, Security<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Ukraine observes preparations for Oreshnik deployment in Belarus<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">December 13, Pozirk. Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) has detected preparations in Belarus for the possible deployment of Russia\u2019s Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile system, FIS chief Oleh Ivashchenko told Ukrinform. \u201cRussia and Belarus are constructing military facilities for the launchers, &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/167966\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 17, Pozirk. Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus in non-manoeuvrable units, the Lithuanian defense ministry said today, denying reports that as many as 300,000 Russian forces are stationed in the country. Currently, Russia lacks the capacity to deploy many troops in Belarus, as it is focusing all efforts on its military operations against [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":136029,"template":"","rubric":[16,30],"class_list":["post-168576","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-security"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lithuania: Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus, not hundreds of thousands | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"December 17, Pozirk. Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus in non-manoeuvrable units, the Lithuanian defense ministry said today, denying reports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lithuania: Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus, not hundreds of thousands | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"December 17, Pozirk. Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus in non-manoeuvrable units, the Lithuanian defense ministry said today, denying reports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/kalashnikov_ostro_org_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/\"},\"headline\":\"Lithuania: Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus, not hundreds of thousands\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-17T10:47:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/\"},\"wordCount\":104,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/kalashnikov_ostro_org_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/\",\"name\":\"Lithuania: Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus, not hundreds of thousands | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/kalashnikov_ostro_org_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-17T10:47:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"December 17, Pozirk. 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Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus in non-manoeuvrable units, the Lithuanian defense ministry said today, denying reports","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/168576\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Lithuania: Russia has several thousand troops in Belarus, not hundreds of thousands | Pozirk","og_description":"December 17, Pozirk. 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