Belarus Says Russian Troops To Arrive In Coming Days 'For Joint Force'

The Belarusian Defence Ministry has confirmed that Russian troops will begin arriving in the country in the coming days as part of the recently-announced 'joint force'.

• Since the announcement of the joint force last week, Belarus has insisted that it will serve purely as a defensive capability.
• However, there remain concerns that a large ground assault force on the Belarusian border could be used in a second attempt to take the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, following the failed attempt in the early days of the war in Ukraine.
• Comes as Putin says that 222k of the expected 300k individuals subject to his partial mobilisation have already been called up. Expects the mobilisation to be complete in two weeks, with 16,000 of those mobilised already on the front lines.