The Armed Forces of Ukraine published a video message to the Belarusian people in Russian with an appeal not to enter the war against Ukraine together with Russia.
The APU circulation says that “Ukraine has never threatened and today does not threaten Belarus.” The Armed Forces called up Belarusians not to comply with the orders for entry into the war.
In October, the presidents of the Russian Federation and Ukraine Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko agreed to create a joint group of troops in Belarus due to supposedly exacerbation on the border. Lukashenko stated that the united group will include 70 thousand Belarusians and 15 thousand Russians. At the same time, British intelligence reported that Russia was unlikely to transfer such a large number of fighters to Belarus – the concentration of forces in Ukraine is now much more important. British intelligence believes that these are the scheduled actions of Russia to distract the attention of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the situation on the western borders of Ukraine. The American Institute for War Study (ISW) also believes that an attack in Ukraine from Belarus in the coming months is unlikely.