President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in Slavutych on 21 May with the heads of community councils from Ukraine's Kyiv and Chernihiv oblasts amid Russia's threat from Belarus. There, he announced more reinforced fortifications, border defenses, and air defense for the northern axis.
Slavutych sits roughly 50 kilometers from the Belarusian border. Recently, Ukrainian intelligence has detected signs of military preparations near the Belarusian border.
Strengthening fortifications and reinforcement
Zelenskyy emphasized that it is very important to support "our people here" and strengthen protection, and that is exactly what Ukraine is doing.
"This concerns defensive structures — fortifications and other things — additional reinforcement of the border, as well as our Defense and Security Forces that are precisely in this direction," he said.
The Ukrainian president again stated that Russia "very much wants" to draw Belarus into the war and use its Bryansk Oblast for these objectives.
Ukraine, he assured, "has the capacity to act preventively regarding Russian territories from which there could be a threat, and regarding the actual leadership of Belarus, which must be in tone, meaning it must really feel that there will be consequences if there are aggressive actions against Ukraine."
"We remember that in '22 the offensive came from the territory of Belarus too. We will not forget this," Zelenskyy said.
He added that the Ukrainian Defense Forces, the Security Forces, and the intelligence services know the threats and how to respond.
He said funding for all the defensive measures on the Chernihiv-Kyiv axis is available.
"Many questions from communities bordering Belarus. And of course, we need to strongly reinforce air defense — exactly as the people said," he added.
Ukraine keeps communication with allies on Belarus threat
The speech closed with the announcement of "a substantive diplomatic day" on 22 May with planned communication with international partners.
"We will be talking precisely about how our joint pressure and joint diplomatic work can really influence the situation," Zelenskyy said.
The diplomatic agenda lands in a week that has already produced the European Commission President's statement that Russia and Belarus bear "direct responsibility" for drones threatening EU eastern-flank populations and Zelenskyy's own warning earlier this week of five Russian scenarios for expanding the war through northern Ukraine.
