(Bloomberg) -- Russian troops will return to Belarus in large numbers, months after most departed following Moscow's failed campaign to capture northern areas of neighboring Ukraine.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who allowed Russia to use his country as a launchpad for its invasion of Ukraine in February, didn't specify exact numbers or explain why the Russian forces would be returning. But he said the influx would be significant.
“This won't be just a thousand troops,” Lukashenko said during a meeting with his security apparatus in Minsk on Monday, according to state news agency Belta.
Lukashenko said he and Vladimir Putin had decided to deploy the troops after meeting in St. Petersburg last week to address the “deterioration” on the western borders of Russia and Belarus. He reiterated that his military's main task is to prevent war spreading to Belarus.
Russia fired missiles at cities and civil infrastructure, including energy facilities and civilian targets across Ukraine on Monday. The strikes wrought havoc in cities including the capital Kyiv, after Putin accused Ukrainian secret services for Saturday's attack on the bridge linking Russia and occupied Crimea.
Belarus is a landlocked country of 9.3 million, bordering Russia in the east, Ukraine in the south and European Union and NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in the west.
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