OREANDA-NEWS Ukraine has deployed large military units on the Belarusian border and is trying to probe the defense capability of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, Alexey Polishchuk, director of the second Department of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), told TASS.

"The information we have and which has been repeatedly voiced in the statements of officials indicates that the Ukrainian army has indeed deployed significant contingents along the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, periodically trying to probe the defense capability of the Union State in one way or another," the diplomat said.

He noted that against this background, since the autumn of 2022, additional military units of the joint Regional grouping of the troops of the Union State have been deployed in Belarus. Its task is to deter Ukraine or NATO countries from a potential invasion of the territory of Russia or Belarus.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that Moscow had delivered the first nuclear charges to Belarus. He added that this is an element of deterrence for those "who are thinking about inflicting a strategic defeat on us."