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Russia to defend Belarus’ sovereignty with all available means — ambassador

The Russian Ambassador in Minsk commented on Warsaw's plans to increase its military presence on the border with Belarus

MINSK, July 22. /TASS/. Russia will defend Belarus’s sovereignty employing all available forces and means if there is aggression against Belarus, Russian Ambassador to Minsk Boris Gryzlov said on Saturday.

"The Russian Federation will be defending Belarus’ sovereignty, using all available forces and means in our arsenal, in full compliance with our obligations as allies," he said commenting on Poland’s recent statements about plans for the military buildup on the border with Belarus.

The ambassador pointed out that "the Belarusian army is a very profession, motivated and powerful force."

"In addition, a single regional battlegroup, which includes some of the best Russian army units, has been set up on the republic’s soil and is ready to carry out any combat assignments," Gryzlov added.

The ambassador recalled that the Union State of Russia and Belarus has "a unified air defense system, and patrolling of the Union State’s western perimeter is conducted by joint forces."

"State-of-the-art Russian missile weapons are stationed in the Republic of Belarus," he said adding that one should not forget about "the Kaliningrad defensive area that is an operational-tactical conglomeration of all branches of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."

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.

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