Russia cancels plan to withdraw troops from Belarus, preserving its easiest route to strike Ukraine’s capital Kyiv

• Russia had said it would bring home troops stationed in Belarus on Sunday.
• However, officials canceled that move and said they would stay, citing increased tensions.
• The US says Russia creating excuses to attack. Bases in Belarus would be crucial for an invasion.

Russia scrapped a plan to brings its troops home from Belarus on Sunday, citing increased tensions in the region.

Belarus, a firm Russian ally, shares a long border with Ukraine, and is the foreign state closest to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

Russia stationed troops in Belarus as part of the huge military buildup that the West widely interpreted as preparation for an invasion.

Its stated aim was to carry out joint exercises with Belarusian forces, and to withdraw after their end on Sunday, However, when Sunday came that plan was revised.

Belarus said that the Russian troops would stay, citing “increased military activity near the borders and escalation in Donbas,” per an official statement Sunday reported by the Russian state-media agency RIA Novosti.

Donbas is the area of eastern Ukraine that contains the rebel-held regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Russia has long supported the rebels, and in late February began giving alarming warnings of nefarious activity there by Ukraine, which western officials have said is a further part of the plan to create pretext for war.

The military drills started ten days ago, and were described by Russia’s defense ministry as being to “practice averting and repelling external aggression.”

Only a few days ago, Belarus insisted the Russian troops were on the cusp of leaving.

Its foreign minister, Uladzimir Makey, said that “Not a single soldier, not a single piece of military equipment will remain after these exercises,” according to France24.

The decision to not withdraw troops means Russia preserves its shortest route to strike Kyiv.

Russia has continuously denied that it plans to attack, but has so far amassed as many as 190,000 troops around Ukraine, per US officials.

Positions include in Belarus, along the long eastern Ukraine-Russia border, and in the annexed Crimea peninsula to the south.

President Joe Biden said on Friday he was “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin would launch an attack in the coming days.

Analysis of possible paths Russia could take to invade Ukraine shows that Russia could strike from the north out of Belarus and target Kyiv.

Satellite images taken this week showed the appearance of a temporary pontoon bridge over the Pripyat River, less than four miles from the Belarus-Ukraine border.

Forces in Belarus could use such a construction to cross the river and advance towards Kyiv, CNN previously reported.