Important Takeaways:
- Poland needs to prepare its soldiers for all-out conflict, its armed forces chief of staff said on Wednesday, as the country boosts the number of troops on its border with Russia and Belarus.
- Poland’s relations with Russia and its ally Belarus have deteriorated sharply since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into neighboring Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, starting a war that is still being fought.
- “Today, we need to prepare our forces for full-scale conflict, not an asymmetric-type conflict,” army chief of staff General Wieslaw Kukula told a press conference.
- “This forces us to find a good balance between the border mission and maintaining the intensity of training in the army,” he said.
- Speaking at the same event, deputy defense minister Pawel Bejda said that as of August, the number of troops guarding Poland’s eastern border would be increased to 8,000 from the current 6,000, with an additional rearguard of 9,000 able to step up within 48 hours notice.
- The size of the armed forces stood at about 190,000 personnel at the end of last year, including ground, air, naval, special forces and territorial defense forces. Poland plans to increase this to 300,000 troops within a few years.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Belarus has reportedly deployed tanks near its border with NATO, while tensions between Russia and the strategic alliance continue to simmer amid the war in Ukraine.
- The Belarusian military “mobilized reservists and kicked off major military maneuvers,” according to a report published by The Kyiv Post on Thursday. Troops and equipment including tanks from Belarus’ 19th Guards Mechanized Brigade were reportedly deployed near the country’s western border with NATO member country Lithuania.
- The Community of Railway Workers of Belarus—a group opposed to the policies of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is a close ally to Russian President Vladimir Putin—said that a train loaded with military equipment and personnel arrived on Wednesday night in Oshmyany, an area located less than 15 miles from the border with Lithuania.
- The group said that the train arriving at Oshmyany station consisted of four passenger cars filled with Belarusian troops and 42 cars loaded with equipment, including nine T-72B tanks. Belarus’ Ministry of Defense later confirmed that the deployment included T-72B tanks and BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, according to the Belarusian Hajun news project.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Important Takeaways:
- Poland is planning to move around 10,000 troops to its eastern border with Belarus amid mounting concerns over Wagner forces in the region
- Wagner troops have been stationed within Belarus – a close ally of Russia – in the wake of a short-lived rebellion carried out by the group.
- “The violation of Polish space by Belarusian helicopters cannot be underestimated because of the Belarusian approach,” Blaszczak said, calling it another provocation.
- “Everything that is happening in Belarus is coordinated with the actions of Russian,” he said.
- Poland has been sounding the alarm about Wagner forces in Belarus in recent weeks.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin – who led a short-lived rebellion in Russia last month – is in Russia and not Belarus, the leader of Belarus says.
- In response to Mr Lukashenko’s remarks the Kremlin said it was “not following” Prigozhin’s movements.
- The BBC tracked Prigozhin’s private jet flying to Belarus in late June, and returning to Russia the same evening.
- In his address Mr. Lukashenko said he was not concerned about having Wagner fighters in Belarus, adding they would be in the country on “certain conditions”.
- Putin initially accused the group of treason, but under the deal that brought an end to the mutiny, Prigozhin was promised security and the Russian criminal case against Wagner was dropped.
- Its fighters were told they could either sign regular army contracts, go home or head to Belarus.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Belarus official: West left us no choice but to deploy nuclear arms
- Western countries left Belarus no choice but to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons and had better take heed not to “cross red lines” on key strategic issues, a senior Belarusian official was quoted as saying
- “Today, everything has been torn down. All the promises made are gone forever,” the Belta news agency quoted Volfovich as telling an interviewer on state television.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Belarus receives nuclear bombs ‘three times size of Hiroshima bomb’ from Russia
- Belarus has started taking the delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, president Alexander Lukashenko announced, claiming that some of these were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
- Mr Lukashenko said that “the bombs are three times more powerful than those (dropped on) Hiroshima and Nagasaki”, adding to his previous statement that he didn’t simply ask Mr Putin for the weapons, but “demanded” them.
- The Vladimir Putin ally was speaking to the Russian state TV channel Rossiya-1 on a road in a forest clearing with military vehicles and a storage facility visible in the background seen around him.
- This will be the first such warhead deployment by Moscow, comprising shorter-range less powerful nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield, outside of Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.
- The interview was posted on the Belarusian Belta state news agency’s Telegram channel on Wednesday.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Belarus Official: West Left Us No Choice but to Deploy Nuclear Arms
- Western countries left Belarus no choice but to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons and had better take heed not to “cross red lines” on key strategic issues, a senior Belarusian official was quoted as saying on Sunday.
- Alexander Volfovich, state secretary of Belarus’ Security Council, said it was logical that the weapons were withdrawn after the 1991 Soviet collapse as the United States had provided security guarantees and imposed no sanctions.
- “Today, everything has been torn down. All the promises made are gone forever,” the Belta news agency quoted Volfovich as telling an interviewer on state television.
- “The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus is therefore one of the steps of strategic deterrence. If there remains any reason in the heads of Western politicians, of course, they will not cross this red line,” Volfovich said.
- He said any resort to using “even tactical nuclear weapons will lead to irreversible consequences
- The United States has denounced the prospective deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus but says its stance on the use of such weapons has not been altered.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Russia Formalizes Agreement to Deploy Nuclear Weapons to Europe in Belarus
- The move formalized the deal agreed on earlier by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Putin previously announced in March that his country planned to deploy tactical, comparatively short-range and small-yield nuclear weapons in Belarus. The inking of the deal comes as Russia braces for Ukraine´s much-anticipated counteroffensive.
- Both Russian and Belarusian officials framed the step as driven by hostility from the West.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- The exercises involving joint air patrols and paratrooper landings begin the day after the Belarusian Security Council Chairman Pavel Muraveyko said Minsk was ready to respond to any threats from Ukraine and that the situation on the border was currently tense.
- Over the weekend, the two armed forces also carried out joint artillery exercises.
- [Meanwhile] Representatives of more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine are set to gather in Ramstein, Germany, to discuss provisions for Kyiv and pledge fresh supplies later this month. The U.S.-led assembly, known as the contact group, includes all countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and allies, including Japan, South Korea and Australia, offering lethal and nonlethal aid.
- Ukraine is expected to receive Patriot missile systems, which Ukrainian officials say would hobble Russia’s missile attacks that have wreaked havoc on Ukraine’s civilian and critical infrastructure. Some Western officials also said that the first-ever shipment of Western-made main battle tanks could also be announced at the Friday meeting in Ramstein.
Read the original article by clicking here.
Revelations 6:3-4 “when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
Important Takeaways:
- Is Belarus set to join Ukrainian conflict? Lukashenko announces he will deploy ‘joint military task force’ with Russia on western border – sparking fury in Europe
- Remarks from Lukashenko indicate a possible further escalation in the conflict
- He said, without evidence, Ukraine was drawing up plans to attack Belarus
- ‘Their owners are pushing them to start a war against Belarus,’ he claimed
- Remarks came as Russia hit Ukraine with at least 83 missiles as revenge for an explosion which crippled the Crimea Bridge on Saturday
Read the original article by clicking here.
