Russian forces will leave Belarus once drills are over, Minsk says

FILE PHOTO: A radar vehicle of the S-400 Triumph surface-to-air missile system drives along a road on the way to Belarus to join military drills, in Khabarovsk region, Russia, in this still image taken from video released January 21, 2022. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian military forces will leave Belarus once joint exercises between the two ex-Soviet countries are over next month, the Belarusian Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.

The deployments to Belarus, north of Ukraine, are part of a wider Russian military buildup in the region that has stoked Western fears that Moscow is planning to attack Ukraine. Russia denies any such plan.