"The threat of renewed offensive by the Russian forces is growing on the northern front" - General Staff

This was announced today, October 20, by the Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Department of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff, General Oleksii Hromov.

“The aggressive rhetoric of the military-political leadership of Russia and Belarus is intensifying, which is accompanied by the deployment of a regional grouping of troops of the so-called Union State. The threat of renewed offensive by the Russian Armed Forces is growing on the northern front,” he said, adding that Russia may try to cut off the western regions of Ukraine from the rest of the territory.

“This time, the direction of the offensive can be changed to the west of the Belarusian border to cut the main logistical arteries, the supply of weapons, as well as military equipment to Ukraine from the partner countries,” the general explained. 

The General Staff added that Russian units of various military branches are being deployed in Belarus.

“On the territory of Belarus, measures are being taken to deploy aviation units, units of other branches of the military, and forces of the Russian Federation at the relevant airfields and military infrastructure facilities, including those transferred under the full control of the Russian Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” General Hromov said and added that preparations for covert mobilization are being conducted on the territory of Belarus.

Belarus also continues to provide its territory for launching ballistic missiles and drones.

“They have deployed MiG-31 aircraft at their airfields, which can be armed with Kalibr cruise missiles. We are also responding to this,” the military officer emphasized.

Oleksii Hromov made it clear that the Ukrainian General Staff constantly monitors the situation in the Belarusian direction, and the Ukrainian Defense Forces conduct measures to cover the border of Ukraine and Kyiv from the north, so a possible attack will not come as a surprise.

• Ukrainian intelligence officers believe that the self-proclaimed authorities of Belarus understand that in the event of an open accession to Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine, protests may break out in the country.

• Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military and Information Resistance political columnist, believes that Russia is transferring mobilized personnel and automotive equipment to Belarus due to the lack of training grounds on the territory of the Russian Federation.

• Serhii Kuzan, head of the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, believes that the Russian military infrastructure was not ready to work with a large number of mobilized people.