MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russia’s armed forces "will sweep the Ukrainian military" in the Kursk Region, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an interview for the News of the Week program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.
"The army and Putin will naturally <…> sweep the Ukrainian military from there," he said.
Belarus and Russia see that Western countries may send in its military formations directly to Ukraine, Lukashenko noted. "We see with President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin that NATO troops may openly join, <…> bringing in [military] formations directly [to Ukraine]," he said.
Ukraine’s escalation is pushing Russia to taking asymmetric measures, including nuclear responses, Belarusian President stressed.
"What is dangerous is that such escalation by Ukraine is an attempt to pushing Russia to asymmetric measures, let’s say nuclear responses. I know for sure that Ukraine would be happy if Russia or we used tactical nuclear arsenal <…>. Then we would hardly have any allies perhaps," he said.
On August 6, Russia’s borderline Kursk Region came under a massive attack from Ukraine. According to the latest reports, 12 civilians have been killed, while 140 people, including ten children, have suffered injuries. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Kiev has lost up to 3,160 troops, 44 tanks and 43 armored personnel carriers since fighting began in the Kursk area.