Ukrainian General Staff Head fears some of Russian troops may stay in Belarus after West 2017 training
Viktor Muzhenko, the head of the Ukrainian General Staff and the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, has said he assumed that some of the Russian troops preparing to participate in the joint training with Belarus West 2017 may stay in Belarus after the training.
"It is not ruled out that some of these troops will stay in Belarus after the training. There is a high probability of hidden weapons, military hardware and physical infrastructure storage points being deployed in the course of the training," Muzhenko said at a joint session of the Military-Scientific Council of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences.
Such actions can help the enemy considerably reduce the time needed for the creation of strike groups on the western and southwestern strategic tracks, which creates a direct threat to Ukraine's security.
"According to our information, the number of Russian troops for participation in the training has now been increased from the declared 3,000 to 5,000. Such large-scale Russian-Belarusian trainings as West 2017 may be regarded as a measure to boost the combat potential of Russia on the borders of our state, and also on the borders of Poland and the Baltic states," Muzhenko said.
The joint Russian-Belarusian training West 2017 is scheduled for September 2017.