People listen to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko as he speaks during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Minsk, Belarus, March 31, 2016.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks during a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Minsk, Belarus, March 31, 2016. Rocket launchers of the Belarusian Army are positioned during military exercises in Grodno, Belarus, on Saturday, August 22, 2020, in this photo posted to the Facebook page of the Belarusian Defense Ministry. Belarus Prime Minister Alexander Karapetov (left) and Belarusian President Alexander Belarushenko speak with senior officers during a visit to a military exercise InGrod No Belarus on Saturday (August 22) of the visit of the Belarusian president to the military base in the city of Grotno.

The military exercise fits into Russia's narrative that Belarus is under threat from the West, which is exactly the pretext Russia needs.

Belarusian military is merely an extension of Russia, and the fact that it is unable to make its own decisions is a simplification. The Belarusian armed forces know that conducting a NATO military exercise on their own territory would fatally undermine their ability not to be involved in a confrontation with Russia or NATO. Lukashenko's complaint to NATO only reinforces the case for Moscow's intervention, even if initial fears of a "Russian move" against Belarus have since receded. If Moscow is to be believed, Russian intervention makes it more likely, as was believed in Moscow, where Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already described events in Belarus as "a serious threat to the security and stability of the entire region, not just Belarus."

Based on this decision, the left bank and parts of the town of Grodno would remain on the border with Poland. Russian invasion of Belarus, transfer of troops from the base across the borders of Russia to the other end of the country, Poland and Lithuania. This also means that "Russian accession" in Belarus would run counter to the wishes of Belarusian President Lukashenko, who is considering the possibility of NATO military maneuvers in his own country.

Located only 294 km east of Warsaw and 278 km west of Minsk, it is one of the largest cities in the Republic of Belarus and the second largest city in Belarus. The town is situated on the left bank of Lake Baikal, the main river of Belarus, and borders on the "Minsk Region."

In the 12th and 14th centuries there was an area sometimes called Black Ruthenia, which in the 13th century was fully annexed by the rulers of Latvia and Lithuania to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL). The Baltic state of the "Grand Duchy" of Lithuania and the territories it formed were controlled by princes of Lithuanian origin, Mindaugas and others. Under the Riga Peace Treaty, the region around the city was returned to the Second Polish Republic, which had claimed the rights over the area.

At the end of the war, in March 1918, the Belarusian People's Republic was declared in Minsk. The BNR declared its independence from Russia on 19 March 1918 in the city of Minsk (then Mensk). The B NRN Rada (Council) had to flee to Grodno and then leave Minks and drive to the new capital of Belarus, Krasnodar (now Belarus) and its capital.

Most of the inhabitants were expelled or fled to Poland between 1944 - 1946 and 1955 - 1959, and several thousand of them were deported to remote areas of the Soviet Union. During the Second World War and the Cold War, the city became the site of a large concentration camp for prisoners of war.

Grodno was the centre of the Polish province (Bialystok Voivodeship) and part of the present-day Grodno region was under the voivodeships of Novogrodek and Wilno. In 1812 the Russian Empire annexed the entire Grodno region, while the Polish-Lithuanian community formed the Grand Duchy of Trakai Voivodeship. Lithuanian authorities were never established in the city and never claimed it, although the treaty signed in Moscow on 12 July 1920 between the Soviet Union and Lithuania provided for the transfer to Lithuania. However, the Soviet defeat in the Battle of Warsaw rendered this plan obsolete, and after the end of World War II, the entire region was annexed to the USSR in 1945.

Grodno and Gubernija cover the entire territory of Belarus, not including the provinces of Poland, Finland and Ostzeiskaja. The city is the centre of Polish culture, and a significant number of Poles living in Belarus live in the city and its surroundings. In 1945 it was the capital of Grodno Voivodeship and the second largest city in Poland after Bialystok.

The Grodno region is located in northwestern Belarus and borders both Poland and Lithuania. Originally located in Lithuania (Litva Litva Lita), it was able to connect with Poland, which was then annexed by Russia, and was originally connected with Poland via the Dnipropetrovsk region and later with Belarus. Although Belarus as a whole is predominantly Russian Orthodox, the GroDno region has a large number of Orthodox Christians, mainly Orthodox Russians, as well as Jews.