Ukraine Urges Belarus to Withdraw Troops, Military Equipment from Border

JAKARTA - The Ukrainian government on Sunday called on Belarus to withdraw what it described as a large number of troops and equipment stationed on their shared border.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry warned Belarus against making a "tragic mistake" under pressure from Moscow.

In a statement, the ministry urged the Belarusian armed forces "to stop unfriendly actions" and pull their troops out of range of the border, Reuters reported on August 26.

The ministry further said that Belarusian special forces and former Wagner mercenaries were among the troops on the border.

Their equipment includes tanks, artillery, air defense systems and engineering equipment, which are located in the Gomel region near Ukraine's northern border.

The statement also said that Ukraine "has never taken and will not take unfriendly actions against the Belarusian people".

Earlier, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on August 18 that Ukraine had stationed more than 120,000 troops on the border with Belarus, deploying almost a third of its armed forces along the border.

A day later, Belarus said Monday it had sent aircraft, air defense forces and weapons to its border with Ukraine.

"The number of troops has increased significantly, and now they are on duty on the southern border of our country," Belarusian Air Force and Air Defense Commander Maj. Gen. Andrei Lukyanovich told CTV.

Aviation, anti-aircraft missile and radio-technical troops were deployed to the border, Maj. Gen. Lukyanovich said, according to a transcript provided on CTV's website.