Together against NATO: Russia moves forces to Belarusian-Ukrainian border
Ivan
Proshkin, PolitRussia -
Translated
by J. Arnoldski
14
June, 2016
In
the first days of June, the news became known that the 28th
mechanized brigade had been transferred from its place of permanent
deployment in Ekaterinburg to the city of Klintsy in Bryansk region
on the border with Belarus. According to the first deputy head of the
city administration, Oleg Kletny, the soldiers arrived at their new
stationing point on May 30th.
This
instance of re-deployment has caused a real storm in the media on
both sides of the Russian-Belarusian border. On June 2nd, two
journalists asked the press-secretary of Russian President Vladimir
Putin, Dmitry Peskov, to comment on the appearance of Russian
soldiers on the Belarusian border, to which he answered:
“I
know nothing about this. But speaking of a strengthening of the
grouping on the border with Belarus would be an exaggeration.
The
Russian ambassador to Belarus, Alexander Surikov, then came forth
with commentary and stated that the transfer of Russian troops was
due to the activism of radicals in Ukraine who could pose a threat to
the security of the Russian border. He stated:
“Why
Belorussia? As I understand it, the Minsk Agreements aren’t working
out for us and radicalism in Ukraine is once again on the rise.
Besides Right Sector, new forces are forming that are ultra-right and
more radical. In Ukraine, the point of war is once again beginning to
prevail. But we really wish that it wouldn’t. Thus, these are but
preventative measures.”
Following
this, at a routine press conference Peskov addressed the question put
forth to him by journalists regarding the comments of the Russian
ambassador in the Russian Foreign Ministry, and said that the Russian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is more competent to comment on such than
he himself.
The
redeployment of Russian soldiers was also enthusiastically commented
on by Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian liberal media. The later
have declared that Russia is allegedly planning to realize a “Crimean
scenario” in the neighboring country, which means that Minsk should
keep its eyes open and not allow any provocations on the part of its
eastern neighbor. Russian liberal media declared that this was an
attempt by Moscow to increase coercive pressure on Minsk on some
important issues that the two have not yet agreed upon, such as on
the price of gas. In Belarus, some publications sympathetic to
liberal and nationalist movements inside the country declared that it
was necessary to prepare for imminent “Russian aggression,” even
by going as far as to discuss how many division should be put up
against the Russian army.
The
head of the analytical center Belarus Security Blog, Andrey
Porotnikov, stated that the concentration of Russian military units
intended for an offensive operation is a direct threat to Belarus. In
his opinion, this is caused by the fact that in Russia an alleged
“war party” is in power which under the pretext of strengthening
positions in the context of the confrontation with NATO tends to
intervene in the internal affairs of the republics of the post-Soviet
space. Porotnikov stated:
“Russia
has abandoned the principle to which it adhered since 1991 -
non-interference in the internal affairs of its neighbors. Its
foreign policy has become unpredictable and demonstrates a complete
lack of recognition of the independence of post-Soviet states and the
inviolability of borders in Europe.”
But
let’s digress from this wave of hysteria, the goal of which among
other things is warming up the next wave of Russophobia in Belarus,
and let’s look at the situation from a position of reason. The
Bryansk region to which Russian units have been relocated borders
Belarus in the north. The southern part has a border with the
Chernigovskaya and Sumskaya regions of Ukraine, in which there is an
unstable situation that, according to the Russian ambassador in
Belarus, is the region for the transfer of additional forces of the
Russian army to this region. As for the city of Klintsy, it is
located directly in the middle of the western ledge of the Bryanskaya
region between the Russian-Belarusian and Russian-Ukrainian borders.
The
forces which Russia has deployed to Klintsy are extremely small.
According to some reports, the personnel of the unit that has arrived
in Bryansk region consists of little more than 200 persons of the
28th brigade. But if you listen to biased media, then the impression
might be made that Russia is re-locating just about its entire army
along the Russian-Belarusian border in preparation for crossing the
border and realizing the notorious “Crimean scenario” in the case
of a problem in Russian-Belarusian relations.
In
fact, Russia’s activity is explained firstly by the
already-mentioned Ukrainian problem. Secondly, this comes in
conjunction with the significant increase of NATO activity in Eastern
Europe. Relatively recently, the general secretary of the North
Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, stated that four additional NATO
battalions will be deployed in Poland this year. Moreover, American,
British, German, Polish and other countries’ soldiers soldiers are
periodically holding exercises in Poland and the Baltic states. Over
the past few years, they have also become frequent guests in Ukraine,
whose leaders have declared Russia to be the main national security
threat, as in their official documents they now call our country the
“aggressor country.” Naturally, in this context of the extremely
hostile policy of our “Western partners” and their cohort Kiev,
the strengthening of Russian troops on Russia’s western borders is
a reasonable and justified step.
That
such activities will be held was stated at the beginning of this year
by the commander of Russia’s land forces, General-Colonel Oleg
Salyukov. In his words, “the formation of new divisions is one of
the measures of response to the increasing intensity of NATO
exercises in the recent period.” The same statement was repeatedly
made by the head of the Russian defense ministry, Sergey Shoigu, who
on May 4th stated:
“The
ministry of defense has adopted a number of measures whose goal is
countering the buildup of NATO forces in close proximity to Russian
borders.”
In
the context of a further threat by NATO and its allies, NATO said
that three new division will be established in the western zone which
will be equipped with the most modern weapons. Frankly speaking, a
land division of the Russian army has about 10,000 personnel. It
isn't difficult to calculate that three new divisions would mean
30,000 people whom Russia would deploy to counter the NATO threat on
its western borders. Thus, the hysteria spread by certain media
sources, political analysts and other “experts” who decried a
“Russian threat” when 200 Russian servicemen arrived in one of
our western regions is not very understandable. Similar measures were
announced in advance, and their purposes were also clearly stated.
The purpose is not to blackmail any allies to the west in any way,
especially not Belarus.
It’s
good that Minsk understands this. Just the other day, the president
of the republic, Alexander Lukashenko, stated that in the case of a
war with NATO that the Russian and Belarusian armies would fight
together against the alliance:
“The
Russians often talk about how new NATO contingents are being deployed
up to Russia’s borders. It must be emphasized that above all this
is happening at our borders, Belarusian borders. We see this and
accept it without whining. Adequate measures are being taken without
any noise.”
In
addition, Lukashenko emphasized that Belarusian units would be the
first to enter into battle against the enemy and would hold back NATO
forces until the first reinforcements of the Russian army arrive from
its western regions. Lukashenko said: “We have a joint grouping of
armed forces in the west which will ensure the security of our
fatherland - Belarus and Russia. And at the heart of this group are
units of the Belarusian army.”
Lukashenko’s
promise is very clear. Belarus is the front line of defense of our
Common Fatherland, and Russia is the rear of Belorussia which will
immediately come to the rescue in the event of aggression. And it is
precisely for such prompt aid that Russia should concentrate troops
on its western border. And the more the better. Therefore, it is not
worth listening to all kinds of hysterics aimed at inciting hatred
between two fraternal and allied countries, between the two parts of
which there is one people. Russia and Belorussia will always confront
our common enemy together. He who comes to us with the sword will
perish by the sword. Of course, no one wants war, but it’s always
necessary to have a sharpened sword.
We, together with the
Belarusians, are taking care of this now.
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