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17,000 Ukrainian servicemen are currently concentrated near the Belarusian border, state television channel STV reported on Sunday, citing information from the State Border Committee of Belarus.

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"According to our CCK, Ukraine has concentrated a group of 17,000 military personnel in the area of ​​the Belarusian border," the report said.

It is noted that in the Rivne region of Ukraine, "the strengthening of the border continues, where new fortifications and engineering facilities are being built, a second line of anti-tank ditches is being created. For this purpose, special concrete structures - tetraids - are being used."

The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus, Ivan Kubrakov, also said that a unit for combating sabotage and intelligence groups "Ris" is actively working throughout the country.

"In the internal troops, a special division "Reese" was created. The main task is the fight against sabotage-intelligence groups. Today, this division works actively throughout the territory of Belarus. These are specially trained employees - servicemen from the internal troops. Only military personnel serve in this division under a contract and they are already ready to work in any territory of our country," Kubrakov said on the air of the ONT state television on Sunday.

Ukraine created a system of engineering barriers in the border areas with Belarus, in particular mine-explosive ones, increasing their saturation tenfold.

We remind you that it is not the first time that Minsk notes the presence of Ukrainian military personnel along the border. 

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At the end of February, Belarus raised the alarm about a significant group of Ukrainian troops near the border and warned that it was a threat to the country's security.

Belarus created a new formation of volunteer forces for territorial defense.

The country's president, Alexander Lukashenko, explained that the goal is for everyone to know how to "handle a weapon", to be ready to respond to aggression and maintain public order in peacetime.

In December, Alexander Lukashenko said that the number of "provocations" near the Ukrainian border was increasing.

In his words, Kiev "uses any pretext to involve NATO troops in the conflict".

Minsk announced that NATO had massed 60,000 troops along the border.

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