Russian troops are not in Belarus, but Ukraine must be ready for any scenario - Ukraine's Border Guard Service

He said this on the Espreso TV channel.

‘Every minute, along the entire length of the border with Belarus, we must be prepared for any development as long as this country remains under the influence of Russia. The terrorist country that waged war against us once used Belarus to invade our territory. Russia continues to put pressure on Belarus to join the war on a larger scale.

Therefore, we must constantly strengthen our defensive positions, build up our defense capabilities both along the border in terms of engineering and fortifications in the border area. This is necessary to ensure that all our Ukrainian soldiers, including border guards, units of the Armed Forces and the National Guard, have the opportunity to take cover in case of shelling and can conduct full-fledged combat operations to repel attacks,’ the Demchenko said.

According to him, there are no Russian units in Belarus today. 

‘The situation is constantly monitored by Ukraine's intelligence units, the Ministry of Defense and the State Border Guard Service so that we can respond in time in any direction. Fortunately, there are no Russian units there now, as it was before, when Russia kept about 10-12 thousand of its military on their territory under the guise of exercises and training. But it gradually withdrew them from the territory of Belarus to strengthen its units on the frontline, and did not deploy new ones as part of the rotation. Nevertheless, this area will remain a threat to us as long as Belarus remains in the orbit of Russia's influence,’ Demchenko concluded.

• Since the start of the operation in Kursk region, Belarus has deployed at least a thousand troops to the Gomel region, bordering Ukraine. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called for an end to the unfriendly actions.