MINSK, April 12. /TASS/. Belarus has strengthened security and defense at its infrastructure facilities near the Ukrainian border and will respond harshly to any attempts to attack them from the Ukrainian side, President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"Our fugitives (Belarusian opposition abroad - TASS), yours (Russian - TASS) and ours, I was informed yesterday, are shouting to the Poles and others: let's hit the Mozyr oil refinery (which is several dozen kilometers from the Ukrainian border - TASS), they supply the 'aggressor' with fuel for military needs, this is our (Ukraine’s - TASS) legitimate target," he told reporters in the Kremlin.

Lukashenko said that in response to these threats he "called his military officers and said: 'Put everything we have in position.'" "And then we will respond with an iron fist," the Belarusian leader said.

He added that Minsk does not intend to attack Ukraine itself. "If we were to go to war with Ukraine today, it wouldn't do any good, because its border with Belarus is barricaded, so you can't get there. It is completely mined, blocked with concrete, and there are 120,000 Ukrainian soldiers on this border," he said.

Lukashenko also pointed out that the Mozyr oil refinery in Belarus "is working without interruption, and you [Russia] are refueling with fuel from the Mozyr refinery."