MINSK, July 22. /TASS/. Polish authorities’ recent steps cannot be defined otherwise but as preparations for larger-scale acts of aggression, Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov said on Saturday.

Gryzlov recalled that "Poland has announced plans for its military buildup on the border with Belarus and for construction of new defensive structures there." This involves at least 1,000 troops and almost 200 pieces of equipment from two mechanized brigades in addition to the units already stationed along the border.

"From the point of view of military science, the Polish authorities’ recent steps and statements cannot be defined other than as preparations for provocative actions and larger-scale aggressive actions," Gryzlov said.

The ambassador added that "this is what Russian President Vladimir Putin drew his attention to yesterday, when he said that Poland seeks to intervene in the Ukraine conflict under the NATO umbrella in order to regain the so-called historical territories, which are western Ukraine and, possibly, some Belarusian lands."

On Friday, Zbigniew Hoffmann, secretary of the Polish government’s National Security Committee, said that the Polish Defense Ministry has decided to redeploy troops from the western part of the country to the border with Belarus in the east amid reports that Minsk plans exercises with the private military company Wagner. In early July, the General Command of the Polish Armed Forces announced that 1,000 troops and almost 200 units of equipment from the 12th and 17th Mechanized Brigades would be redeployed to eastern Poland.