Russia would need to assemble roughly 70,000 troops to launch a major offensive against Ukraine from Belarus, a task Ukrainian forces are actively trying to prevent, National Guard Commander Maj. Gen. Oleksandr Pivnenko said.In an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, Pivnenko described the threat from Belarus as real but said Moscow currently faces challenges generating the forces required for such an operation.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“The enemy’s main task is to stretch our forces so they can move deeper into our territory more quickly,” Pivnenko said.“But that also requires forces — finding 70,000 servicemen capable of carrying out such actions. Let them try. We will do our best to make sure they don’t find them.”Pivnenko noted that Russia’s Senezh special operations center is already operating near the border and active on the Chernihiv axis.
“The events of 2022 will not be repeated here.” Source:: Maj. Gen. Oleksandr Pivnenko, Ukrainian National Guard Commander
He suggested Moscow may struggle to organize a new northern campaign while facing difficulties elsewhere on the front. “I’m not sure they can organize themselves so quickly because Russia has certain problems in the Pokrovsk direction, we are destroying a lot of their infantry there,” he said. The commander said National Guard units continue to participate in border security operations alongside other elements of Ukraine’s Defense Forces and described the current situation along the northern frontier as stable. According to Pivnenko, Ukraine has placed particular emphasis on drone surveillance and maintains continuous aerial monitoring of border areas. He explained:
