New OSINT Map Identifies 150 Belarus Military Sites That Could Threaten Ukraine

Investigative journalists have published an interactive map identifying 150 key military sites across Belarus that could support a renewed threat to Ukraine from the north.

The map was compiled by the Schemy investigative unit of Radio Svoboda, part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, together with its Belarusian-service colleagues, and published on August 7. The authors built it from satellite imagery and open-source data, and pledged to keep expanding it with newly identified sites.

The sites on the map span airbases and airfields, ammunition and fuel-and-lubricant depots, permanent deployment points for military units, border detachments, training centers, and firing ranges.

Several of the airfields were used heavily by Russian aviation at the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. The authors singled out abandoned Soviet-era bases as a dormant reserve that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's government and the Russian command could reactivate quickly to house new units or missile systems.

Belarus's military has not fought directly inside Ukraine, yet its territory has served as a springboard for Russian strikes and troop preparation since the full-scale invasion began. According to the International Strategic Action Network for Security (iSANS), whose June review informs the analysis, the ranges also let Belarusian and Russian structures rehearse command, communications, logistics, air defense, and rail movement.

In June 2026, its analysts reported the integration of military structures into the Belarusian Railway traffic-control center, a move that could streamline military logistics.

Belarusian units held routine drills in June, with about eight battalions of the Western Operational Command practicing a crossing of the Neman River near Grodno while airborne and mechanized formations trained separately.

iSANS characterized the activity as maintenance of combat readiness rather than evidence of preparations to strike Ukraine. Minsk was also readying for the CSTO exercises "Indestructible Brotherhood-2026" and "Barrier-2026," set for October, coordinating formats and scouting the ranges to be used.

As of July 1, the network estimated about 2,200 Russian service members in Belarus, with no permanent Russian Aerospace Forces grouping recorded at the country's airfields. A Belarusian force of roughly 1,000, including internal troops, held the frontier with Ukraine on mainly protective duties, and neither Kyiv nor Minsk reported signs of offensive preparations there.

iSANS framed the situation as a matter of capacity rather than intent. "Belarusian training grounds are part of Russia's infrastructure reserve, allowing it to reduce the time needed to receive troops, coordinate them, provide logistical support, and potentially deploy them further," the assessment stated.

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Anti-Fake

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Sep 12, 2025 13:56

By that same reading, available data still does not confirm that a large Russian strike group has formed on Belarusian ranges for an offensive against Ukraine.

Earlier reports indicated that Belarus is standing up the 37th Separate Air Assault Brigade near Gomel, about 40 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, as part of its Special Operations Forces.

One battalion has already been formed, with a second battalion and artillery, air defense, and reconnaissance elements planned through 2026 and a permanent base near Gomel expected in 2027.

Funding for the garrison and its training range has been extended through 2028, and construction of a nearby range was reported in January 2026.

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