Belarusian involvement in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Belarus, a close ally of Russia, has supported its eastern neighbour in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the start of war, Belarus allowed the Russian Armed Forces to perform weeks-long military drills on its territory, which it did not leave after they were supposed to finish. The country did not oppose it being used as a launching pad for the invasion of Russian troops that started on 24 February, which they actively used as Belarus’s border was close to Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital.

Belarus initially denied having anything in common with the conflict, but has since admitted to allowing Russian missile launchers stationed on its territory to shoot at Ukrainian targets. Several reports have emerged in Belarus opposition media and among the Ukrainian military that Belarusian troops are on Ukrainian soil fighting together with Russians, but Belarus’s leader Aleksander Lukashenko dismissed them and said that the Belarusian Armed Forces would not participate directly in the conflict.

The involvement of Belarus was condemned in Western countries, with the European Union, the United States, and Japan imposing sanctions against Belarus. According to Chatham House, Belarus’s participation in the military conflict is not popular among the general population; protests were held on 27 February, the day of the constitutional referendum which asked to revoke Belarus’s non-nuclear country status, but were quickly dispersed. Several hackers affilitated with the Ukrainian military or with Anonymous have targeted government agencies and country’s critical infrastructure.

Background

Belarus is located to the north of Ukraine, with which it shares a 1,084 km (674 mi)-long border. Its proximity to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is considered to be of major strategic value.

In January and February 2022, Russian troops came into Belarus to participate in military drills. On 16 February, Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei claimed that Russian soldiers will leave Belarus after training ends, statement rejected later on by the Ministry of Defense, who claimed that they would remain “for an unknown period of time”. The number of Russian troops that would remain in Belarus was estimated to be at around 30,000. Additionally, it was also speculated that Belarus could host Russian nuclear weaponry.

The former version of the Constitution of Belarus demanded the country to be neutral. Belarus, however, held a constitutional referendum on 27 February, which was declared to have passed with 65% support. As one of the changes, Belarus revoked its non-nuclear status. Lukashenko later clarified that he would request Russia to bring nuclear weapons if NATO moves to bring them to Poland or Lithuania, the country’s western neighbours.

Russian invasion

In the initial stages of the military conflict, Belarus lent its territory to Russians for them to attack, but did not seem to have sent its soldiers to the conflict. On the day of invasion, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported about Russian troops trying to break through the Belarus-Ukraine border at the Vilcha border crossing, and a helicopter without identification marks attacking a bridge near Slavutych. CNN published a video showing tanks entering Ukraine through the Senkivka border crossing, on the tripoint with Russia. Also on that day, Chernobyl, together with the nearby former nuclear power plant, was seized after Russian troops entered Ukraine from Belarus via the unpopulated Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Belarus also allowed military installations to shoot from its territory towards its southern neighbour, or to cross its border southbound. Already on 24 February, the Ukrainian commander-in-chief reported that 4 ballistic missiles were launched from Belarus towards the southwest. Two days later, Maxar Technologies published satellite images with 150 helicopters and hundreds of ground vehicles stationed near Khoyniki, some 50 km (31 mi) from the Ukrainian border, with 90 helicopters using a local straight road as a temporary airbase. Belarusian media and Telegram channels also circulated numerous videos and photos showing movement of Russian armored vehicles and helicopters in southern Belarus. Three days later, the Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communication reported that Zhytomyr Airport was bombed by the missiles launched from the territory of Belarus.

Eventually, reports of Belarusian troops in Ukraine started to appear. On 25 February, the Ukrainian media published a video with a Russian POW who claimed to have entered Ukraine via Homyel’ Region of Belarus and said that the Belarusian military didn’t stop him. On 28 February, Belarusian opposition media outlet Charter 97 claimed that some Belarusian soldiers were among the wounded and killed invasion troops in Ukraine, citing anonymous Belarusian and Ukrainian sources. A Ukrainian senior military official later said to the public broadcaster Suspilne that the Belarusians have been spotted on the ground in Chernihiv Oblast since 27 February and that they were moving from Horodnia towards Chernihiv, the capital of the northernmost region of Ukraine; however, the Office of the President could not confirm the reports.

Russian troops wounded in Ukraine are reportedly treated by Belarusian and Russian doctors in Homieĺ and in other cities of Homiel Voblast. Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine are reported to be placed in morgues in the Homiel Voblast.

Reactions

Belarus

Government

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko initially denied involvement of the Belarusian military in the conflict at the time, and the Belarusian Ministry of Defense did not comment on the reports of missiles launched from Belarus hitting any Ukrainian targets. On 27 February, however, Alexander Lukashenko acknowledged that projectiles were launched by Russia from Belarus against Ukraine, but commented this was a “forced step”. Lukashenko also announced that he would not order Belarus’s troops to join the Russians to Ukraine, despite reports they already were in Ukraine, nevertheless he decided to move more forces to the Ukrainian border on 1 March.

Opposition

Belarusian exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya condemned Lukashenko for participating in the invasion. Belarusian opposition journalists claimed that the actions of the Belarusian government could be treated as aggression according to article 3 (section “f”) of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 (“The action of a State in allowing its territory, which it has placed at the disposal of another State, to be used by that other State for perpetration an act of aggression against a third State <…> …qualify as an act of aggression“). Protests against the invasion were held in cities across Belarus on 27 February, the day of voting on the changes to the Belarusian constitution, during which 800 people were detained, according to Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus.

According to Chatham House, 79% of Belarusians think that the death of Belarusian soldiers during the war between Russia and Ukraine is unacceptable, and more than 50% thought that Belarus should remain neutral.

Belarusian activists disrupted work of the Belarusian Railway (transports Russian military trains) destroying two control points of semaphore signals and railroad switches, organizing a short circuit of the signaling system near Mahilioŭ. Ministry of internal affairs of Belarus called these acts “terrorist attacks” and accused opposition figures Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and Pavel Latushko of inspiring them. On 2 March, hacktivists damaged network infrastructure of the Belarusian Railway.

Ukraine

On 26 February, the head of State Border Guard Service of Ukraine Serhii Deyneko wrote an official letter to the chief of the State Border Committee of Belarus A. P. Lappo accusing his organization of helping Russia to invade Ukraine from the north. Some MPs of Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, have called to break diplomatic ties with its northerly neighbour.

A large number of internet hackers, in particular connected to a decentralised collective called Anonymous and the Ukrainian IT Army, launched numerous cyberattacks against Belarusian government agencies and the state railway. In response to the invasion, Anonymous leaked some 200 gigabytes of correspondence of Belarusian private defence contractor Tetraedr.

Western countries

Belarus’s assistance of Russia’s invasion drew condemnation from Western powers. On the day of invasion, the US Treasury issued sanctions against Belarus for its involvement in the Russian invasion. Several military industrial companies and generals were sanctioned. On 26 February, Japan considered issuing similar sanctions, which it introduced two days later.

The European Union issued the first set of sanctions against Belarus – the first was introduced on 27 February, which banned certain categories of Belarusian items in the EU, including timber, steel, mineral fuels and tobacco. After the Lithuanian prime minister proposed disconnecting Belarus from SWIFT, the European Union, which does not recognise Lukashenko as the legitimate President of Belarus, started to plan an extension of the sanctions already issued against Russian entities and top officials to its ally.