Belarusian Maj.-Gen. Vadim Denisenko announced the formation of the 37th Airborne Assault Brigade in the Gomel region near Ukraine’s border. The first battalion has already formed according to the Commander of Belarus’s Special Operations Forces. The brigade is intented to strengthen the most volatile southern front, according to Deninesko. The Belarusian Special Operations Forces will also be enhanced this year with an anti-aircraft missile regiment and a rocket-artillery regiment.
The announcement to reinforce the army was made in the same week that Belarus shot down a drone flying over Minsk. Following that incident Belarus announced it was “taking measures to strengthen control over the airspace.”
Russia and Belarus have close ties. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko boasted this week that Russia will conquer Ukraine, and Putin added that “Russia isn’t seizing land – just taking back what’s rightfully ours.”
Belarus enables Russian military forces on its territory, having facilitated Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine with strikes and ground troops launched from within its borders.
In 2023 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he did not belive Belarus had the desire to attack Ukraine, but that Ukraine would prepare for any security matters.
The increased military presence near the northern Ukrainian border and increased Russian influence on Belarus have heightened security threats to Ukraine.