Zelensky warns Russia is preparing to send 100,000 troops to Belarus, possibly for an offensive against a NATO country — The Economist

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia is preparing to deploy a significant number of troops to Belarus, which could be used for an invasion of a NATO country. He made the remarks in an interview with The Economist published on February 12.

“No one understands what war is until it comes to your home. I don’t want to scare anyone. [But] it will come,” Zelensky said. “As the world is slowly stopping [Russian President Vladimir] Putin today, slowly, too slowly, it will come. And that’s a fact.”

Citing Ukrainian intelligence, Zelensky said Putin is forming 10 to 15 divisions, totaling about 100,000 troops, to be sent to Belarus for military exercises — just as they were in the lead-up to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“He [Putin] will tell you that this is training, exercises near the borders of Ukraine, as it was before. But believe me, this is the preparation of a bridgehead for offensive actions,” Zelensky said. “[W]ho told you that he will go to Ukraine? Who told you that he won’t go to Lithuania? To Poland?”

 “It may be that while we are still standing, he is preparing a bridgehead for a large number of troops and simply takes this bridgehead and goes in a different direction. He goes to Poland, goes to Lithuania and occupies them. Why doesn’t anyone think that this will happen?” he added.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, NATO countries have been bracing for potential aggression from the Kremlin. Some European leaders believe an attack in the coming years is a real possibility. In January, the German tabloid Bild reported that Germany’s Defense Ministry was considering a scenario in which Russia could strike NATO’s eastern flank in 2025. The Kremlin dismissed the report as “fake news.”