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Russian fighter jets have arrived at the military airfield in Brest, Belarus.
Su-25M aircraft are designed to hit ground targets and operate in support of unit maneuvers on the ground. Meanwhile, former Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky told Sky News that Russian President Vladimir Putin is really afraid to start a war in Ukraine.
Russian Su-25M fighter jets have arrived in Belarus from Russia’s Primorsky region for joint military exercises, the Belarussian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday.
Belarusian military television, Voyen TV, showed footage of the planes, designed to support ground forces, as they arrived at the runway in the Brest region.
According to US officials, Russia has gathered at least 70% of the forces it would need in case Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Officials who spoke on condition of anonymity put forward a number of indications that Mr. Putin intends to launch an invasion in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former Russian gas tycoon already in exile, told Sky News that the Russian president is really afraid to start a war in Ukraine.
“Putin does not really know what the reaction of society will be,” he said. It is one of the reasons why he is really afraid to start a war, because if the war turns out to be unpopular, people will protest and I am sure that people will not support this war. “But he does not know how strong the reaction will be and he is really afraid of that.”said Mr. Khodorkovsky.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that there have been significant moves in recent days by Russian troops towards Belarus, Ukraine’s neighbor.
The Kremlin says the exercise in Belarus, which is expected to end on February 20, is a preparation to repel foreign forces, and says the units will withdraw after the maneuvers are over.
Belarus shares borders with NATO member states Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, while Ukraine is on its southern border./VOA
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