Soldiers of the Ukrainian State Border Guard Service line up at the border with Belarus in the Volyn region, Ukraine, on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021. Ukraine has sent 8.5 thousand servicemen amid the migrant crisis as thousands of migrants who came to Belarus from the Middle East and Africa are trying to enter the European Union through Poland. (Ukrainian Police Press Office via AP)
Two Russian paratroopers died after their chutes failed yesterday during joint military drills between Minsk and Moscow just kilometres from the border with the EU.
The Russian ministry of defence announced the accidental deaths hours after releasing a slickly produced video that showed its troops leaping from planes and running across open fields before launching rounds of machine-gun fire in the woods.
The images were a vivid illustration of Vladimir Putin’s support for Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko amid a growing migrant crisis on the Polish border.
The joint drills come after Russia flew nuclear-capable bombers over Belarus’s airspace in another show of solidarity and strength. They also follow warnings from the West that Russia could be preparing to invade Ukraine again.
Moscow’s intervention marks a dramatic escalation in the crisis that has seen thousands of Syrians, Iraqis, Yemenis and other nationalities camping at the Belarusian border since the start of the week, in the hope of crossing into Poland.
Mr Lukashenko has promised to “flood” the European Union with migrants in retaliation for sanctions imposed on his regime in response to its crackdown on political dissent at home.
Warsaw has accused Mr Putin, Mr Lukashenko’s sole remaining major backer, of pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
Poland, meanwhile, has moved 15,000 troops to the frontier, put up a fence topped with barbed wire and approved construction of a border wall.
The migrants themselves are stuck in the middle of a stand-off, unwanted either by Belarus or Poland, and forced to survive in bitter temperatures.
Moscow announced after the drills, which took place 20km from the Polish border and 10km from Nato member Lithuania, that its 250 paratroopers had now returned to their bases in Russia.
However, fears remain that Moscow is planning to set up a permanent military base in Belarus, something that the Kremlin denies.
A team of British Royal Engineers was yesterday sent to help shore-up the Polish border with Belarus. Defence sources said Poland sought help with the border barrier and Britain is “always there for our friends”. (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021)