Ministry of Defence Belarus Around 9,000 Russian troops are expected to join the joint military group of the Russian-Belarus State Union amid escalating tensions with neighboring Ukraine, it was reported on Sunday (16).

“The total number (of Russian troops) will be less than 9,000,” Valery Revenko, head of the army’s international military cooperation department, wrote on Twitter.

The defense representative recalled that the day before, “the first convoy with Russian troops belonging to the Russian-Belarusian grouping” began to arrive.

“The deployment will take a few days,” he added. This Sunday, the press service of the Ministry of Defense announced the arrival of the first Russian aircraft to join the group.

“The air component of Russia’s Regional Grouping Force has begun to arrive in the Republic of Belarus,” the press service of the Belarusian Defense Ministry reported in a telegram.

Earlier, Viktor Tumar, Deputy Commander of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus, said that the decision to activate the joint Russian-Belarusian group was aimed at strengthening the protection of the Ukrainian border, highlighting that it was a plan. Special defense”.

Lukashenko announced last week that he had agreed to create the aforementioned group with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We have agreed to deploy a regional (military) group of both countries in view of the deteriorating situation on the western border of the state,” he said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Minsk to stop supporting Russia’s “special military action”.

Ukraine accuses Belarus of complicity in an ongoing Russian military campaign by ceding its territory to occupation forces to launch attacks on its neighbor.