Threat of Belarus’s attack on Ukraine quite considerable – General Kryvonos

Ex-deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council / General Serhii Kryvonos, believes that there is a big threat of re-using the territory of Belarus to attack Ukraine. It can be either an attack by the Russian troops or the inclusion of the Belarusian Armed Forces. Kryvonos stated this in an interview for RBC-Ukraine.

Kryvonos noted that now, the Russian Federation is engaged in propaganda in the army of Belarus in order to control the sentiments of the military.

“The Russians are now intensively “processing” the political leadership of the country. Plus, they tightly control the sentiments in the Belarusian army. They now have their curator officers in almost every unit who clearly monitor the mood. They also conduct additional propaganda to justify their intentions to invade our lands," he said.

Kryvonos stressed that in certain areas the Belarusians can independently launch an offensive.

"I think that directly in the Volyn and Rivne directions they can do it on their own at the expense of those units and units that they have. But the issue is that a fairly large number of the armed forces of Belarus are not very willing to participate in this aggression," the general added.

Kryvonos suggests that if there is an order to invade, many Belarusian soldiers are ready to immediately surrender.

“Let's hope that in the worst case scenario, the heart and mind of Belarusians will prevail over the desires of Putin and Lukashenko to participate in this war,” he said.

On June 13-14, Belarusians began gathering with reservists. According to the general, they can be conditionally called covert mobilization.

"I think that around June 26-27 they should make some kind of decision - either continue these exercises and then, perhaps, there will be aggression, or already disband the people. But approximately nine days later (the conversation took place on June 22), a meeting between Putin and Lukashenko is planned I think that we just have these 8-9 days, because Putin will try to put the squeeze on Lukashenko," he said.

Kryvonos suggested that Putin could drag former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to the meeting to create a pseudo-triple alliance of "liberated" territories of Ukraine or a new "republic."

"I think there may be attempts to give birth to some kind of union as opposed to the unions that are being created now - Ukraine, Great Britain, Poland," he added.

As Ukrainian News Agency reported, the General Staff stated that air and missile strikes from the territory of Belarus are expected to continue.

Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs assessed the chances of an attack by Belarus on Ukraine.