Russia deployed at least 50 units of military equipment to Belarus on 5 January, the Belarusian group of OSINT analysts Belaruski Hayun reported.
Russia continues strengthening its group of forces in Belarus, setting conditions for new offensive against Ukraine from the north. According to Belaruski Hayun, the newly arrived batch of Russian military equipment spotted in Belarus yesterday includes:
- around 43 military trucks KAMAZ and Ural
- 5 fuel trucks
- 2 anti-aircraft guns Zu-23-2
- field kitchens and water barrels for the military
The echelon of Russian military equipment was sent to Baranovichi and Fanipol in the western part of Belarus. The letter “Z” is painted on the vast majority of military vehicles that arrived in Belarus. The Russian army uses this letter to mark its forces that take part in the invasion of Ukraine.
Over the past couple of months, Russia has substantially increased its military presence in Belarus. The Belarusian forces held a number of rapid deployment and combat readiness drills close to Ukraine’s border. The last drill like that took place in Belarus last December.
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Back in February 2022, the Russian forces launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine from multiple directions, one of them being from Belarus. Ukraine watches closely the developments on its northern borders these days. In December 2022, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov told the New York Times that the maneuvers of Russian and Belarusian forces along the northern borders of Ukraine might aim at diverting the Ukrainian army from the combat zone in the southeast of the country.
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