Burc Eruygur
07 March 2023•Update: 08 March 2023
ISTANBUL
Ukraine’s interior minister on Tuesday said that they have "no clear confirmation" that an attack on his country is being prepared from the Belarusian border.
“As of today, we do not see clear confirmation that an attack is being prepared from the Belarusian side. This is confirmed by the State Border Service of Ukraine,” Ihor Klymenko said during an interview with the state news agency Ukrinform.
Klymenko said that despite this, the Interior Ministry works together with the Ukrainian armed forces so that they can take measures and stop attacks from the “enemy,” whether it be “a subversive group or larger military formations.”
“Together with the military, we are doing everything to strengthen the border. And the law recently adopted by the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament), which expands the border strip to two kilometers (1.24 miles), will be a guarantee that we will strengthen and control our border directly with the Republic of Belarus even more carefully,” he said.
The minister also repeated the words of Andrii Nebytov, head of the Kyiv regional police, who said that there will be no "no easy walk" for Russia should Moscow go on the offensive against Ukraine once again.
“It definitely won't be. I think that we have been proving for more than a year that it will not be easy for them not only in the territory for which Nebytov is responsible but in the entire territory of our country, which is now hitting the enemy along thousands of kilometers of the firing line,” Klymenko said.
He further noted that Ukraine has enough forces to respond to any change in the operational or military situation in the country in “a timely and effective manner.”
Klymenko, who previously headed Ukraine’s National Police, was appointed as the country’s interior minister on Feb. 7, following his predecessor Denys Monastyrskyi’s death in a helicopter crash in the Kyiv region in January.
Heavy equipment needed for ‘demining’
He also voiced the Interior Ministry’s need for heavy equipment.
“Light equipment was provided to us by our foreign partners in sufficient or almost sufficient quantities, and we are now waiting for heavy equipment for demining,” Klymenko said.
The minister also noted the possibility of the arrival of foreign personnel for demining efforts, together with Ukrainian pyrotechnicians.
“We also constantly need military support for our units, because, unfortunately, the war continues, and the shells are running out,” he said.
He further noted Ukraine’s need for medical equipment and mobile hospitals to provide high-quality medical care for those injured, saying that they will also need to rebuild “a large number of real estates, hundreds of which have been demolished,” for which they will need “the appropriate equipment.”
“After all, we need help, and consultation with our colleagues on the formation of a safe country. As of today, this applies to the de-occupied territories and the so-called rear areas,” he added.
