About 13,000 current and former military from Belarus agreed to participate in Russia's war against Ukraine.
Oleksii Hromov, the deputy head of the main operational department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, stated this at a briefing, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
"According to preliminary data, up to 13,000 people from the current and former servicemen of the units of the Belarusian Special Operations Forces and Special Purpose Police Detachment signed an agreement to participate in the war against Ukraine. The main motive is material and financial. There is no ideological component in the actions of the occupying forces. No one believes in "denazification," in "protecting the rights of the Russian-speaking population." Fear and money are the main factors in the Russian military presence," he said.
According to Hromov, six battalions of the Armed Forces of Belarus have been deployed near the state border of Ukraine.
He also noted that, in addition to its own armed forces, Russia invites foreign representatives to the training grounds of Belarus.
So, on August 3, the first foreign teams from Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Cameroon, Tajikistan, Syria, Laos and Mali arrived at the Machulishchy airfield (Minsk region).
"All this is carried out to create a picture of the so-called international military cooperation of the aggressor," Hromov said.
On August 13-31, it is planned to hold "army international games-2022," where the participation of representatives of 37 countries is provided.
The General Staff warns that at this time sabotage with intentional victims among foreigners is possible to accuse Ukraine of terrorism.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in March, the General Staff reported that Russia recruited more than 1,000 mercenaries in Syria for the war in Ukraine and placed camps for them on the border with Ukraine in Rostov (Russia) and Gomel regions (Belarus).
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