Radio Liberty: Belarus builds a military camp in Gomel region, 40 km from Ukraine's border

Journalists from RFE/RL's Belarus Service have found that the Ministry of Defence of Belarus is building a military camp in the Gomel region, 40 km from the border with Ukraine.

According to the journalists, in early 2023, Belarusian media reported that a new military camp and training ground was planned to be built in the Gomel region near the border with Ukraine under the state investment programme for 2023-2027.

It was planned that in 2023, BYN 500,000 would be allocated from the budget for this purpose, and in 2024 and 2025, BYN 10 and 40 million, respectively. The project was supposed to start in 2023 and end in 2027.

Radio Liberty suggests that the construction of the new military facility may be linked to the statements made by Alexander Lukashenko in May 2022. At that time, he announced the creation of the "Southern Operational Command" in the Armed Forces. According to another version, published by the Motolko.help project, the Special Operations Forces may be deployed in this town.

The exact location of the construction is not officially disclosed. Radio Liberty's sources recorded the construction on the territory of the former Chaika pioneer camp in the Gomel district. This is approximately midway between the towns of Gomel and Rechitsa, where an asphalt road leads to the border with Ukraine. It is 40 kilometres from the Nova Huta border crossing on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.