Report: Belarus’ Lukashenko Says Nearly a Third of Army Sent to Ukraine Border

In this pool photograph distributed on July 26, 2024, by Russian state owned Sputnik agency Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a candle as he visits Valaam Monastery with the Russian President, in northern Russia on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed on July 26, 2024, by Russian state owned Sputnik agency Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a candle as he visits Valaam Monastery with the Russian President, in northern Russia on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
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Report: Belarus’ Lukashenko Says Nearly a Third of Army Sent to Ukraine Border

In this pool photograph distributed on July 26, 2024, by Russian state owned Sputnik agency Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a candle as he visits Valaam Monastery with the Russian President, in northern Russia on July 25, 2024. (AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed on July 26, 2024, by Russian state owned Sputnik agency Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko holds a candle as he visits Valaam Monastery with the Russian President, in northern Russia on July 25, 2024. (AFP)

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Sunday that Ukraine had stationed more than 120,000 troops at its border with Belarus and Minsk had deployed nearly a third of its armed forces along the entire border, the Belta state news agency reported.

He did not say exactly how many troops were deployed. Belarus' professional army has about 48,000 troops and around 12,000 state border troops, according to the 2022 International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance.

"Seeing their aggressive policy, we have introduced there and placed in certain points - in case of war, they would be defense - our military along the entire border," Belta cited Lukashenko as saying in an interview with Russian state television.

Kyiv did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. On Saturday Kyiv said it had seen no signs of a Belarusian troop buildup at the border.

The Belarusian leader, a staunch ally of Vladimir Putin, was speaking against the backdrop of a Ukrainian incursion into Russia that began on Aug. 6 when thousands of Kyiv's troops smashed through Russia's western border in a major embarrassment for Putin's top military brass.

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said on Friday there was a high probability of an armed provocation from neighboring Ukraine and that the situation at their shared border "remains tense".

Lukashenko said the Belarusian-Ukrainian border is mined "as never before" and that Ukrainian troops would incur huge losses if they tried to cross it.



EU Sanctions Iranian Individuals Accused of Targeting Dissidents

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
European Union flags fly outside the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
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EU Sanctions Iranian Individuals Accused of Targeting Dissidents

European Union flags fly outside the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
European Union flags fly outside the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo

The EU has imposed sanctions on eight people and one entity responsible for the targeting of Iranian dissidents for assassination on behalf of Iran's government, the European Council said in a statement on Tuesday.

The sanctions, over what it called "serious human rights violations" and "transnational repression", included asset freezes and travel bans, the council said.

The Council listed the Zindashti Network, which it said was a criminal group uconnected to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security that has carried out numerous acts of transnational repression, including assassinations of Iranian dissidents, Reuters reported.

It also included the Zindashti Network's boss Naji Ibrahim Sharifi-Zindashti - who it said was an Iranian narcotics trafficker and organised crime boss - and some of his associates. Zindashti and his network have previously been sanctioned by the United States.

The Council, the European Union's governing body, is also targeting Mohammed Ansari, the leader of the Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force Unit 840, who it said ordered the assassination of journalists critical of the Iran.

It said that the listings confirmed the EU’s concerns about transnational repression by Iranian state bodies through the use of proxy agents, in particular involving criminals and organised crime networks targeting dissidents and human rights defenders across the world, including on EU territory.