Belarus Sends More Troops, Aircraft, Weapons to Border with Ukraine

Belarus said Monday it had sent aircraft, air defense troops and weapons to its border with Ukraine, a day after President Alexander Lukashenko said he had deployed nearly a third of his country's armed forces to the region. “The group has been significantly increased, and now it is serving on the southern borders of our country,” Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Commander Major General Andrei Lukyanovich told state broadcaster CTV. Aircraft, anti-aircraft missile forces and radiotechnical troops were deployed to the border, Lukyanovich said, according to a copy provided on the website. CTV. Days after Ukraine's surprise incursion into Russian territory, Lukashenko, a loyal ally of President Vladimir Putin, accused Kyiv of pursuing an aggressive policy and sent more than 120,000 of its troops to the border region with Belarus. Ukraine said it had not seen a build-up of Belarusian troops on its border and called Lukashenko's remarks “rhetoric” aimed at pleasing Putin, who used Belarus as a launching pad for his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow calls the war a “special military operation.” Kyiv and its allies say it is an unprovoked imperialist attempt to seize land. The war has killed thousands and displaced millions of …