Ukrainian President's Office reacts to Belarus' combat readiness check 

He stated this in a comment to RBC-Ukraine.

He answered negatively to the question whether Belarus plans to enter the war against Ukraine. The question has risen due to the fact that on December 13, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, announced a sudden combat readiness check of Belarusian troops.

According to Podoliak, 12,000 to 15,000 mobilized Russians are currently in Belarus, but the equipment they are transferring there is not of offensive type.

"We see that Russia is constantly rotating troops, that is, transferring them from one training ground to another, including those near the borders of Ukraine. But we see that they are transferring a large amount of equipment. Russia sends primarily anti-missile and anti-aircraft equipment to Belarus. This is not offensive equipment, it is not tanks, it is not an armored personnel carrier," said Podolyak.

He added that there are no signs Belarus or Russia formed a strike group to attack Ukraine.

"There is no reason to say that a strike group may be formed in Belarus, as Russia, who fights following the classic Soviet methodology, likes to do. Therefore, we will monitor everything that is happening in Belarus, but for now we need to be calm, because this is rather an informational operation in order to destabilize Ukraine. But there is one nuance - they do not understand Ukraine so much that instead of destabilizing us, they do the opposite," Podoliak is convinced.

• On December 13, Belarus announced a sudden combat readiness check of its armed forces.