Belarus has started military exercises by the city of Brest near the Polish border, its capital Minsk and the northeast region of Vitebsk, the defence ministry said on Thursday. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, said the exercises, located just 20 miles from Ukraine's border and six miles from Poland, will practice 'liberating territory temporarily seized by the enemy' and regaining control over border regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin used similar rhetoric to justify his invasion of Ukraine earlier this year and had staged wargames near the border before sending his troops into battle.