Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The troops may not have entered the war—at least not yet—but the war of words is already raging.
Last week, the commander of the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdi, said that Ukraine had already identified the first 500 targets in Belarus if Putin’s ally actually joins the war on the side of Russia.
In the same warning to Alexander Lukashenko, Brovdi offered the Belarusian leader what he called free advice: “Don’t put yourself in Ukraine’s sights.”
There is still no confirmation that Belarus will actually enter the conflict, but Lukashenko has warned Ukraine that while Ukraine might have 500 Belarusian targets identified, Minsk is also working behind the scenes.
A single target
According to a report by The Kyiv Independent, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed on May 31 that Minsk has a single, highly significant target inside Ukraine in its crosshairs.
Lukashenko also fired back at Brovdi’s numbers.
“They may have identified 500 targets,” the Belarusian leader said. “But we have one major target, with precise coordinates, and it is very close to Belarus. They understand that too.”
The leader also insulted the Ukrainian soldiers positioned along the border, labeling them as “cannon fodder.”
A difficult border
Lukashenko dismissed warnings from Zelensky regarding a direct military strike from Belarusian soil. He claimed that Ukrainian troops want no part in a new battle zone.
“The Ukrainian military does not want any war with Belarus. I know that for sure,” Lukashenko claimed. “Because they understand that this means a thousand kilometers of additional front lines, a border, and a difficult border between Belarus and Ukraine. Do they need that? No.”
Tensions have shifted dramatically since the two leaders last spoke face-to-face in October 2019. That meeting took place nearly three years before the Kremlin used Belarusian territory to launch its initial attack on Kyiv in early 2022.
Sources: The Kyiv Independent, Facebook statement from Robert Brovdi
