Ukraine Starts Major Operation to Fend Off New Threat From North

Key points

• Ukraine has announced a major security buildup in the country’s north to deter Russia from launching another push toward Kyiv via the territory of neighboring Belarus.
• The country’s military as well as agents from the Security Service of Ukraine will comb the area for spies and subversives, searching buildings for banned items, checking cars and limiting traffic, the SBU said in a Telegram post on Thursday.
• “These measures are unprecedented in scale in terms of personnel and resources deployed in areas bordering Russia and Belarus, and are intended as a strong deterrent against any aggressive actions or operations by the enemy and its ally,” SBU said.
• Russia is considering a new offensive on northern Ukraine that could mirror its failed attempt to seize the capital in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post on Wednesday.
• Back then, the Kremlin’s forces seized...