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Lukashenko accuses Ukraine’s authorities, power structures of smuggling arms into Belarus

The Belarusian leader pointed out that Minsk tightly shut down the border with Ukraine

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko Nikolai Petrov/BelTA/TASS

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko

© Nikolai Petrov/BelTA/TASS

MINSK, August 9. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said that Ukrainian power structures and authorities transport militants and armaments into Belarus.

"Why are you (Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky - TASS) training militants in Ukraine and smuggle arms here? Because weapons are mainly coming from Ukraine," he said.

"They are transferring arms and explosives here. It was found and shown to them. The head of our KGB (State Security Committee - TASS) very clearly told them that we see who among the power structure officials and state institutions in Ukraine organizes it," Lukashenko added.

The Belarusian leader pointed out that Minsk tightly shut down the border with Ukraine, although immediately conceding that it is hard to completely close it off. "It is neighbors, relatives. They [move around] in north Ukraine and south Belarus. I don’t ban them from walking around. How can it be banned when it’s one village, city, relatives and close ones?" he explained.

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