Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London He also covers other areas of geopolitics including China Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and well as English You can get in touch with Brendan by emailing b.cole@newsweek.com or follow on him on his X account @brendanmarkcole either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Vladimir Putin's closest ally, Alexander Lukashenko, has threatened military action if Belarus' border is breached in his latest swipe at NATO which is conducting exercises in the region the only post-Soviet president Belarus has known made the comments during an inspection of his forces in the Oshmyany (Ashmyany) district in the Hrodno region 20 miles from frontier of alliance member Lithuania any provocation must be suppressed by armed means," Lukashenko said on Tuesday according to Belarusian state news agency Belta "Any violation of the state border is subject to destruction The Belta news agency noted in its report the extent of the alliance's Steadfast Defender 2024 exercises which started in January and end on May 31 Belta reported how infantry and mechanized battalions of Germany and the U.S had gathered at the Pabrade training ground in Lithuania around nine miles from the Belarusian border These could be used to "carry out provocative actions...involving sabotage and reconnaissance groups and illegal armed groups," Belta said Newsweek has contacted the Lithuanian government and NATO for comment said elements of a Belarusian mechanized brigade are positioned near the Lithuanian border area as part of combat readiness inspection Muzyka noted that the deployed Belarusian forces "lacked the capabilities to pose a serious military threat to NATO members." However, Minsk's rhetoric against NATO is becoming increasingly belligerent, with Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin saying in February that its military would shoot down any aircraft that came into its airspace last month that Polish-American intelligence was preparing "a large-scale provocation against Polish civilians which will be blamed on Russia and Belarus." The Polish foreign ministry told Newsweek in a statement in February that Minsk is "one of the main destabilizing factors of the security situation in the region" and it is "only Minsk's actions that have been the source of all tensions." Lukashenko relies on Putin to retain his grip on power particularly after disputed Belarusian elections in 2020 that were followed by a brutal crackdown So far avoiding direct Belarusian involvement in the war Lukashenko has allowed his country to be used as a staging post for Russian attacks into Ukraine and Lukashenko has also touted Russian-controlled nuclear weapons being placed in Belarus Meanwhile, closer economic ties sealed between the countries in January have raised speculation over whether Minsk might be forced to play a bigger role in the war in Ukraine Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Belarus moved a 46-car train with equipment and military personnel to the Ashmyany district according to the monitoring group Belaruski Gayun "Units of the 19th mechanized brigade (1st separate mechanized battalion, military unit 14398; 4th separate tank battalion, military unit 22092) were transferred to Ashmyany district (bordering Lithuania)," reads the statement of Gayun According to belzhd_live the echelon with military equipment arrived at the Ashmyany station last night the amount of equipment that arrived corresponds to an incomplete mechanized battalion reinforced by a tank company the transfer of units of the 19th Mechanized Brigade to the border was carried out in several stages: Belarus announced a test of combat readiness The military did not rule out the possibility of even restricting civilian traffic as part of the test It is worth noting that this is not the first time Belarus has conducted a combat readiness check of the army no restrictions on civilian traffic were imposed On the night of March 1, Lithuania closed two more checkpoints on the border with Belarus - Lavorysh and Raigarde. Only the Myadyninkai and Shalchyninkai checkpoints remain open in the country. In addition, at the end of 2023, Lithuania detained people who spied for Belarus. Ashmyany district is an administrative unit in the northeast of the Hrodna region of Belarus, bordering Lithuania. The administrative center is the town of Ashmyany. Belarus deployed equipment and military to the border with Lithuania on March 14 (wikipedia.org) “Belarus has announced that this test of military readiness is in response to NATO and national exercises ongoing in Lithuania and in the region The military intelligence constantly monitors and assesses the situation There is no reason for concern,” the Ministry of National Defence stated Thursday Belarus is currently conducting intense military training and Belarusian military units are also observed in areas bordering Lithuania whereas military activity has increased in all main training areas of Belarus and in its airspace Belarusian monitoring group Belaruski Gayun has reported that on 14 March Belarus moved a train with 46 platforms containing military equipment and troops to the Ashmyany district bordering Lithuania the train brought 24 infantry fighting vehicles BMP-2 9 tanks T-72B and numerous other equipment.