OREANDA-NEWS Russia and Belarus continue to increase the regional grouping of troops, new forces and military equipment are arriving in Belarus from Russia, the Ministry of Defense of the republic reported.

"Today, based on the current situation, this process is taking place in stages," Minsk said.

On October 10, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced that he had agreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to deploy a joint group of troops on the territory of the country. Minsk and Moscow stated that the deployment of joint forces is exclusively defensive in nature. In October, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus reported that the number of Russian military in the group will be slightly less than 9 thousand people.

At the end of December, Lukashenko did not rule out that neighboring countries with Belarus could "deploy" aggression against it. In this regard, the President of the country decided to check the immediate response forces — units that, in case of emergencies, are alerted and "sent to the point where there is tension." In June, exercises were already held in Belarus to ensure the rear, and in August — to "protect important facilities" in Minsk.

After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Lukashenka said several times that Belarus would not participate in it. At the same time, in the fall, he said that Minsk still takes part in the operation, but does not send its military anywhere.