What did Belarus's border claims mean for Ukraine in July 2021?
A look back at the regional tensions reported around 5 July 2021, from Belarus's border closure to Lithuania's emergency.
What was the mood on Ukraine's northern frontier on 5 July 2021? The days before that date had brought sharp claims and counter-claims across the region, and they shaped how Kyiv's neighbours were reading one another.
On 2 July 2021, Belarus closed its border with Ukraine. President Alexander Lukashenko claimed that arms were being smuggled into the country in an attempt by "outside powers" to overthrow his regime. Ukraine denied the claims and said that closing the border would make its people "suffer".
The same day, Lithuania declared a state of emergency amid a rise in the number of undocumented migrants crossing from Belarus. The Lithuanian government accused Lukashenko of deliberately trying to destabilise the country by encouraging and allowing migrants, mostly Syrians, to cross the border.
Further afield, a different chapter was closing. On 30 June 2021, the last Polish troops left Afghanistan, ending Poland's involvement in the war. Around 33,000 Polish troops had served there, and 44 were killed in action.
Taken together, the reports from those days showed governments along the eastern edge of Europe dealing with border disputes and security questions at once. For Ukraine, the immediate matter was a closed frontier with Belarus and a public denial of accusations it rejected. Lithuania was dealing with an emergency of its own, with its government pointing directly at Minsk.
