Oleksiy Gromov, deputy chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said during a briefing on Thursday that the airport is located in the Gomel region. The BBC reported in February that the airbase is 19 miles from the border with Ukraine. Gromoff said that right now there are “equipment activities [a] Russian military base” at the site, Eastern European media outlet NEXTA reported. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said a combination of “unprecedented sanctions” and “political pressure from the collective West” had pushed Russia and Belarus toward unification. A senior Ukrainian official said Belarus has given “full control” of Zyabrovka airport near the Ukraine-Belarus border with Russia. Above, fighter jets fly in formation during joint exercises of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus as part of a military exercise at the Gozhsky firing range in the Grodno region of Belarus on February 12. Leonid SHCHEGLOV / BELTA / AFP/Getty Images On June 21, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk said there were up to seven Belarusian battalions on the border between Belarus and Ukraine in the Brest and Gomel regions, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. “That’s up to 4,000 people. But you have to understand that there are also Russian troops there,” Motuzianik said at the time, according to an English translation. “Considering that today the Belarusian side provides Russia with all logistics, it is quite possible that the Russians will be able to quickly transfer some additional reserves to the territory of Belarus and, possibly, prepare an attack, but they must prepare for this. As of today, we still don’t see it.” Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Russian forces had “liberated” all of Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region after capturing Lysychansk, the last major Ukrainian-held town in Luhansk. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reportedly told Putin that Russian troops and members of a local separatist militia “have gained full control over Lysychansk and some nearby settlements,” according to a Telegram post, and that the total area liberated within of this time frame was 182 sq. kilometers. The Kremlin’s war aims may be being met as the entire eastern Donbas region, which includes the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, is feeling the strain. On Tuesday, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kirilenko called on 350,000 civilians to evacuate to safe places, following a rocket attack on Thursday by Russian artillery that killed at least one person and wounded six others. Another city, Sloviansk in the Donbas region, is now in Russia’s crosshairs. On Wednesday, the UK Ministry of Defense, as part of its daily intelligence briefing, said the Russian groups were likely about 10 miles north of the city of Sloviansk, which is significant for strategic and tactical implications. “With the city also under threat from the Central and Southern Forces Groups, there is a realistic possibility that the battle for Sloviansk will be the next key engagement in the fight for Donbass,” the ministry said.
