Russia withdrew almost all of its military from Belarus - State Border Guard Service

Andriy Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, said this during a briefing.

According to the spokesperson, fortunately, the situation on Ukraine's border with Belarus remains fully under control. On the other side of the border, the State Border Guard Service does not see the enemy having groups to re-invade Ukraine from the north.

Nevertheless, Demchenko emphasized that Ukrainians should be prepared for any development of the situation, as Belarus continues to support Russia in its war against Ukraine. In turn, Russia uses Belarus as a training ground for its troops. However, the number of Russian troops in Belarus has now significantly decreased.

"Fortunately, the number of Russian troops at the Belarusian training grounds has been decreasing recently. Until recently, we recorded this number at up to 2,000 servicemen, but at the moment, the next rotation has taken place and almost all Russian troops have been withdrawn from the territory of Belarus," Demchenko said.

He also emphasized that it cannot be ruled out that in some time, Russian units will be deployed to Belarus again as part of the rotation, but this has not been recorded yet.

"In addition, we do not observe the organized infiltration of Russian mercenaries from private military campaigns into the territory of Belarus, as previously reported, because Belarus was preparing such sites and was ready to receive Russian mercenaries on its territory," the State Border Guard Service spokesman added.

The Wagner mercenaries in Belarus and the threat to Ukraine

After the mutiny of Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in late June, the Kremlin reported that mercenaries had been relocated to Belarus.

On June 27, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus confirmed the arrival of Yevgeny Prigozhin in the country. According to him, the Wagner mercenaries who arrived with him would not guard the Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed there.

On June 29, a satellite detected the erection of a tent camp near Osipovichi in the Mogilev region of Belarus, and on July 3, Russian media published a photo of a suspected Wagner camp.

On July 11, Lukashenko said that the Wagner soldiers relocated to Belarus would share their experience with regular army soldiers at the republic's training grounds.

On July 9, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a coordination meeting in Lutsk to discuss the security and socio-economic situation in the region. The participants discussed the defense of the border with Belarus, the socio-economic situation in the region and the city.

Subsequently, Zelenskyy said after a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's Staff on July 14 that there was no threat of invasion of Ukraine from Belarus.