MINSK, January 26. /TASS/. The intensity of foreign military aircraft’s flights near the borders of Belarus has increased two to three times lately, the commander of the 8th Radio Technical Brigade of the Belarusian armed forces, Colonel Igor Tishchenko, has said.

"It is true that flights in neighboring areas have increased several times. They have doubled and even tripled. The aviation component on the Western side has been built up," he said in a video the Defense Ministry released on Thursday.

At the end of November 2022, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin mentioned what he described as "high intensity of reconnaissance flights by the United States and its allies, including those near the borders of Belarus, by all types of available aircraft - from strategic reconnaissance planes to tactical aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles." According to the Defense Ministry, the intensity of reconnaissance against the country "increased from 30 sorties per week in 2021 to 65-70 sorties in 2022."

Minsk has repeatedly said the groups of national armed forces and NATO formations in Poland and the Baltic states had been strengthened. The Deputy Chief of the Belarusian General Staff, Valery Gnilozub, said NATO’s forces deployed in Poland and the Baltic States could serve as the basis for creating strike groups targeted against Russia and Belarus.