MINSK, March 14. /TASS/. Belarusian border guards last year stopped the illegal displacement of about 35,000 refugees from neighboring countries, Deputy State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council Alexander Neverovsky said at the opening of a new complex of the Borovoye border guard post for the Mozyr border detachment.

"Last year alone, Belarusian border guards prevented the illegal displacement of around 35,000 refugees from neighboring countries. Inhumane measures which refugees are being subjected to are often life-threatening," said Neverovsky, as quoted by the BelTA news agency. "Throughout last year, the border service recorded 27 refugee deaths," he said, adding that since the beginning of 2024 four refugees died on the border "due to harsh measures from Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian border guards."

Neverovsky noted that it is reliably known that the Baltic States are actively preparing militants and saboteurs to commit terrorist acts in Belarus and Russia. "At the same time, these countries carry out unfriendly policies despite our desire for good-neighborly relations, as shown by the decision to extend visa-free travel for citizens of neighboring countries in 2024," Neverovsky said. According to him, although the Ukrainian side already stopped the movement of persons and vehicles across the border more than two years ago, the Belarusian side still lets Ukrainian nationals in. "In total, about 172,000 Ukrainians have passed through our checkpoints since the beginning of the special military operation. And 18,000 have already come since the beginning of this year," he said.

Neverovsky also emphasized that Belarus is adopting measures for preventing people with terrorist and extremist intentions from entering the country. "The recent detainment of two Ukrainian nationals in the Lelthchisky district proves this. They were attempting to illegally penetrate the territory of our country, and had explosives on them," he recalled.