Ukraine was preparing to attack Russian and Belarussian troops on the day Russia launched the “special military operation” in Ukraine, Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko says. This false narrative was also picked up by the media in Russia and Belarus.
NEWS: “If Russia hadn’t launched a pre-emptive attack on their positions six hour before the operation, Ukrainian troops would have attacked the Belarussian and Russian forces involved in joint exercises”, Lukashenko said. […] I say it again, they were not just preparing to attack Donbas, but they were also consolidating their position in order to attack Belarus”, the Belarusian president added.
NARRATIVE: Ukraine was preparing an attack on Belarus the day Russia launched the special operation.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The purpose of this narrative is to justify the war launched by Russia against Ukraine on February 24. Moreover, Lukashenko explained to the Belarussian audiences why the Russian troops are using his country’s territory in order to attack Ukraine. In fact, Ukraine never planned to attack Belarus. It was Belarus that allowed Russia to bring troops on its territory and attack Ukraine, claiming it was all part of a joint military drill, the main target being Kyiv. With a sizable Russian force outside its borders before the war started, underequipped and outmanned, Ukraine had no reason to seek a conflict, and would never have had the military capacity to stage a large-scale assault, let alone attack two states at the same time, Russia and Belarus.
Lukashenko’s statement can be interpreted as a casus belli, a necessary pretext to involve Minsk in the Russian-Ukrainian war – a Belarussian military offensive.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Oleksy Reznikov said the Russian military is preparing an attack on certain areas in Belarus. According to Kyiv authorities, Minsk wants to tell the public at home this was a provocative attack of “Nazi Ukrainians” that requires a proper military response. Reznikov gave assurances that Ukraine never planned and isn’t planning on attacking Belarus.
Belarus has already deployed 5 tactical battalions on the Ukrainian border, with orders to patrol the area, protect key objectives and keep the peace in the borderlands. Ukrainian officials say the probability Belarus enters the war over the coming days on Russia’s side is rather high.
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