State Border Guard Service responds to Lukashenko's statement on withdrawal of Russian troops through Kyiv

Belarus' dictator Alexander Lukashenko is trying to absolve himself of responsibility, claiming that Russia was allegedly withdrawing its troops after the exercises through the territory of Ukraine, and did not invade. This was reported by the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko, during a telethon.

He called the statement of the Belarusian dictator "absurd".

According to him, this is Lukashenko's way of trying to deny the responsibility that his state should bear for opening its border to Russian troops who invaded Ukraine, in particular from the territory of Belarus.

"Perhaps this is how Lukashenko wants to forget February 24, 2022, but of course, the whole world, and Ukraine in particular, will never forget it, recalling how Russian troops also entered our country from Belarus," Demchenko said .

He called the border with Belarus "important" as well as with Russia.

"We understand that at any moment they will come up with another fairy tale to hide behind, and, in fact, we have to increase our defense capabilities along the border with Belarus," the spokesman emphasized.

He reminded that the entire length is more than 1000 km from Volyn to Chernihiv region.

Demchenko emphasized that the military has not noticed any changes along the border. The situation remains under control.

In an interview with Time journalist Simon Shuster on August 8, Lukashenko said that he allegedly did not know about Russia's planned invasion of Ukraine.

According to him, he allegedly learned about the outbreak of a full-scale war from a statement by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. He mentioned the Belarusian-Russian exercises that took place before the invasion.

Lukashenko claims that Russians have allegedly started withdrawing troops.

"They started withdrawing troops. This is, if you imagine Gomel, to the south. Sometimes by air, but mostly by rail. It's almost on the border with Ukraine. At some point they turned south, to the right," the dictator explained.

According to him, the Russians followed "the old Leningrad-Odesa road and entered Ukraine".

"During this withdrawal. But it was just a few hours. I always say this, you know, but the troops were from the Eastern District. And why did Russian troops go to the east of Russia through Kyiv, why did Putin withdraw them through Kyiv to Russia? But this is a question for Zelensky and Putin," he said.

• August 7, 2025 Foreign intelligence warned that Lukashenko wants to expand the powers of the army to suppress protests.
• August 8, border guards reported that Russia sent a small number of troops to Belarus for joint exercises, not enough for an offensive.