Belarus denies participation in military operation in Ukraine

"The information disseminated on the Internet about the participation of Belarusian armed forces in the operation carried out in Donbas does not correspond to reality.

"Formations and military units of Belarus are at permanent deployment points, they are implementing the training plan for the armed forces in accordance with their intended purpose," Belarusian Defence Minister's Assistant for Ideological Work in Armed Forces, Major General Leonid Kasinsky said in a statement published on the ministry's Telegram channel.

According to the spokesman, part of the Belarusian armed forces was withdrawn to strengthen the southern border of the country and prevent the penetration of sabotage intelligence groups from the Ukrainian territory.

On Thursday, Russia began a special operation to demilitarise and "denazify" Ukraine, responding to calls from the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics for help in countering the aggression of Ukrainian forces.

Moscow has repeatedly said that it has no plans to occupy the Ukrainian territory.

However, despite this fact, many foreign countries have accused Russia of invading the neighbouring country and violating its territorial integrity, and pledged to provide Kiev with additional military assistance to fight the Russian armed forces.