Belarus restricts access to 3 districts bordering Ukraine

This was reported on December 21 by the local outlet Belta citing the resolution published on the National Law Internet Portal.

A temporary restriction on entry and exit was introduced within the border zone of the Loev, Bragin and Khoiniki districts of the Gomel region.

They border the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine. The Russian offensive on Kyiv in February was launched from these districts.

According to the decision of the Belarusian Council of Ministers, only those who live or work nearby can approach the border.

• On December 15, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said that he did not rule out a Russian offensive on Kyiv from Belarus. Russia may repeat the attack on Kyiv in January or February 2023. Currently, the aggressor country is preparing about 200,000 new militaries. In turn, American military experts assessed the possibility of Belarus entering the war against Ukraine after the meeting between Lukashenko and Putin on December 19.
• On December 19, Putin visited Minsk, where he met with Lukashenko. Also, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived to meet with his Belarusian counterpart. After that, American experts said that the self-proclaimed president of Belarus probably refused the Russian leader to make further integration concessions during the meeting in Minsk.
• On December 20, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the military of Belarus and Russia continue to deploy near the borders with Ukraine. And the commander of the Joint Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Serhiy Nayev, stressed that the level of military threat from Belarus is gradually increasing.
• Later, the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service Andriy Demchenko said in a comment to Espreso TV that the situation along the border with Belarus and in the border area remains under control; no movement or sharp increase in military equipment or manpower has been recorded, and the border is maximally reinforced.
• However, there is information from the Belarusian Hajun monitoring project that Russia has begun to transfer to southern Belarus the equipment that was previously brought to the training grounds with the mobilized Russian Armed Forces. On December 20, the transportation of tanks, trucks and personnel of the Russian armed forces from the Belarusian training grounds in the northern and central parts of the country was recorded.
• In a comment for Espreso TV on December 21, Defense Express military expert Serhiy Zgurets explained that a repeated offensive of the Russian army from the territory of Belarus would be ineffective, as Russia has lost the effect of surprise.