Russia could build infrastructure in Belarus where training of mobilized Russian soldiers is held - expert

RIGA -  Russia could build infrastructure in Belarus where the training of mobilized Russian soldiers could be held, the director of the Latvian National Defense Academy's Security and Strategic Research Center Toms Rostoks told LETA.

The Belarusian National Resistance Center has announced that Russian army engineers are arriving Belarus to build barracks and camps. Most of the barracks are planned to be built in the Brest area, where Russian rear units are arriving.

Rostoks reminded that Belarus has allowed Russian armed forces to invade Ukraine using the territory of Belarus. Also, some of the airstrikes in the direction of Ukraine have come from Belarus, however, what has been seen in the past weeks is that the presence of Russian troops in Belarus has increased.

According to the director of the Center for Security and Strategic Research, taking into account that the total number of mobilized Russian citizens could reach up to 300,000, it is likely that larger units of troops will be put together in Belarus and training would also take place there.

"If the troop units were about 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers, then they would need engineer brigades, because in this war Russia's logistics are stuck. The soldiers have to live somewhere and they have to be trained, and the existing infrastructure in Russia is not enough," Rostoks said.

He emphasized that some of the mobilized have gone to the front line, while Russia could use two-thirds to prepare new units or to integrate tens of thousands of mobilized into existing units. Asked whether another invasion of Ukraine could take place through Belarus, the expert admitted that such a scenario cannot be ruled out either. The Russian military presence in Belarus will continue to pose a constant threat to Ukraine and will not allow the units located in the north of the country to "relax" or move them to other parts of the front.