Fear is growing among Ukrainians.
kyiv has feared for months that Russia, which invaded it on February 24, will again use Belarus to attempt a new land incursion into the north of its territory.
Images of hundreds of soldiers on maneuvers a few kilometers north of Ukraine were released by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The Kremlin's objective is to maintain the pressure and send a message: these soldiers recently deployed in Belarus can enter Ukrainian territory at any time.
Positioned a few kilometers from the Belarusian border, Ukrainian territorial defense soldiers say they are ready to repel the enemy if the threat is carried out.
“The only thing waiting for them here is death”
"If they come from that side, it will be a diversionary strategy to lure our main forces in the wrong direction", explains Staff Sergeant "Leshy" - a reference to Liéchi, spirit of the forest and trees in the Slavic mythology –, military instructor, during a training session in the Zhytomyr region.
"And then they might try to attack somewhere else. But the only thing waiting for them here is death."
Until March, there were very few combat-trained Ukrainians on this border to stand in the way of Russian troops.
But citizens like “Svitla” – a nickname for war – got involved en masse.
"I had no military experience," says the young woman.
"We were all civilians and had never held a gun before. Things have changed drastically."
The attention of the Ukrainian troops is now at its peak, as the first anniversary of the war approaches.
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