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Poland sends 10,000 troops to Belarus border to prevent attack

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak (L) said Thursday 10,000 troops are being sent to the border with Belarus "to scare the aggressor" and prevent an attack. Border tensions are high between the NATO country and Russia-allied Belarus. Photo by Radek PietruszkaI/EPA-EFE
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak (L) said Thursday 10,000 troops are being sent to the border with Belarus "to scare the aggressor" and prevent an attack. Border tensions are high between the NATO country and Russia-allied Belarus. Photo by Radek PietruszkaI/EPA-EFE

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said Thursday Poland is sending roughly 10,000 troops to the border with Belarus to "scare the aggressor so that he does not dare attack us."

About 4,000 of the troops sent to the border with Belarus will directly support the Border Guard while 6,000 will be in reserve, Blaszczak said on Polish Radio 1.

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The troops are reinforcing the border amid ongoing escalating tensions with Russia-allied Belarus following the alleged violation of Polish airspace and repeated attempts to illegally cross the border.

Belarus denies that its helicopters entered Polish air space in early August.

"Everything that happens in Belarus is coordinated with Russia's actions," Blaszczak said during the Radio 1 appearance.

The escalating border tensions between Belarus and NATO member Poland include reports that some Wagner mercenaries are moving toward Poland's Suwalki Gap bordering Russia's Baltic Sea enclave of Kalinigrad.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the situation with Wagner troops moving toward the border city of Grodno as increasingly dangerous, warning that the mercenaries could enter Poland posing as migrants.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is also considering sending more troops to its western border, according to a readout of a meeting published by the Defense Ministry Wednesday, citing what Shoigu claimed is increasing militarization in Poland.

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Poland said it has not ruled out closing the border with Belarus, which recently started military drills near its border with Lithuania and Poland.

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