The Cyberpartisans have claimed responsibility for several high-profile hacks, their latest targeting military trains headed from Russia to Belarus.
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko has said the exercises would be held on Belarus' southern and western borders, however, Moscow denies any joint military plans.
Two long-range strategic Tu-22M3 bombers flew a four-hour mission to join patrols of air space along the western borders of ally Belarus, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country seeks no confrontation with Poland, but if the crisis deteriorates too far, then “war is unavoidable.”
The current escalations at the border are not the result of migrating asylum seekers or the actions of smugglers, but rather the political decisions of Belarus, Poland, and the EU.
Belarusian military says drills with Russian paratroopers were to test the readiness of the countries' rapid response forces due to an increase in military activities near the border.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Lukashenko's threat to cut gas to the EU had not been coordinated with Moscow.
Hundreds of migrants camped out overnight in Belarus near Poland’s border in freezing temperatures as officials warn tension could increase in coming days.
Experts believe Russia is coercing and intimidating its neighbors through military means, escalating tension in eastern Europe.
The move by President of Poland Andrzej Duda came with the intent of preventing illegal migration from Belarus, after nearly 3,500 illegal migrants attempted to cross the border in August alone.
Ukrainian police opened a murder investigation after Vitaly Shishov, whose NGO helps victims of persecution fleeing Belarus, was found hanged in a Kiev park.
State TV broadcast an interview of journalist Roman Protasevich in which he said he called for anti-Lukashenko protests last year, a confession the opposition, UK and Germany say was "clearly under duress".
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