Russia would need 70,000 troops to launch offensive from Belarus, but Ukraine is prepared for such scenario, - Pivnenko
The threat of a possible offensive from Belarus remains a real concern if Russia is able to mobilise around 70,000 troops for this purpose. At the same time, the Ukrainian Defence Forces are taking measures to prevent such a force from being assembled.
According to Censor.NET, the commander of the National Guard, Major General Oleksandr Pivnenko, spoke about this in an interview with "Interfax-Ukraine".
The threat from Belarus
"The enemy’s main objective is to stretch our forces so that they can advance deeper into our territory more quickly. But that requires resources too – let them try to find 70,000 servicemen who are capable of fighting. And we will do our best to ensure they don’t find them," said Pivnenko.
The commander of the National Guard of Ukraine pointed out that the Russian ‘Senezh’ special operations centre is already deployed in the border region and is operating in the Chernihiv sector.
"I’m not sure they’ll be able to organise themselves that quickly, as the Russian Federation is facing certain problems in the Pokrovsk sector – we’re taking out a lot of their infantry," he said.
Pivnenko also noted that National Guard personnel are taking part in security operations along the border alongside other units of the Defence Forces. According to him, the situation there is currently stable.
"In the Sumy region, our units are on the defensive in the Chernihiv sector. We are focusing more on the drone component, as we need to keep drones in the air 24/7 to monitor the border area. Let me put it this way: if there are warnings that the enemy is planning to advance in the north of our country – in the Chernihiv or Chornobyl sectors – we are prepared for that. What happened in 2022 will not be repeated here," said the Major-General.
The threat from Transnistria
When asked how likely the threat from unrecognised Transnistria is at present, he said he did not believe such a scenario was possible.
"I don’t believe in such a scenario. I would not advise either the Belarusians or Transnistria to get involved in this war: we already have the means to ensure that they forget all about their plans," emphasised Pivnenko.
