Russia and Belarus hold military drills as migrant crisis on EU border grows

On Friday, Russia and Belarus held joint paratrooper drills near Poland, exercises the Belarusian defense ministry said were “in connection with the buildup of military activity near the state border of the Republic of Belarus.”Some 15,000 Polish soldiers have been deployed to Poland’s border with Belarus in recent days in reaction to a tense standoff that the European Union, the United States and NATO say is of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko’s making. Western leaders, including prime ministers of neighboring Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, are accusing the Lukashenko regime of manufacturing a migrant crisis on the EU’s eastern frontier as retribution for sanctions over human rights abuses.Lukashenko’s government has repeatedly denied such claims, instead blaming the West for the crossings and treatment of migrants.Trapped in the crossfire are upwards of 2,000 people stuck between Poland and Belarus who are now facing conditions the United Nations has called “catastrophic,” with desperate scenes of hunger and hypothermia playing out in freezing forests and at makeshift camps at the border.Russia, Belarus’ largest (and most important) political and economic partner, continues to defend Minsk’s handling of the border crisis while also denying any involvement in it. Russia demonstrated that support by flying two long-range Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3 supersonic long-range bombers over Belarusian airspace on Wednesday and on Thursday.The aircraft, known to have nuclear capabilities, practiced “issues of interaction with ground control points” with armed forces of both countries, the Russian defense ministry said. Meanwhile, conditions for migrants trapped at the border continue to deteriorate, with people at a makeshift migrant camp at Bruzgi, on the Belarusian border, now starving and desperate for firewood in near freezing temperatures. CNN gained exclusive access into the camp, where chaotic scenes at a food distribution area were unfolding as the Belarusian Red Cross tried to hand out food aid to tightly packed crowds while Belarusian security forces pushed them back. Disappointment and grief is palpable throughout the camp.Migrants fleeing war-torn countries such as Syria and Iraq had come to Belarus with the expressed purpose of moving deeper into Europe and of trying to find a better life. But now, there’s a bitter sense of disappointment that isn’t happening.Since the beginning of November, there have been 4,500 recorded border crossing attempts, according to Polish authorities. The Polish border guard said it had recorded around 1,000 crossing attempts in the last few days, including some “large-scale” efforts with groups of more than 100 people trying to breach the fence.Humanitarian groups are accusing Poland’s ruling party of violating the international right to asylum by pushing people back into Belarus instead of accepting their applications for protection. Under article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution in other countries. Poland says its actions are legal.As the standoff continues, people keep on coming. Belarusian authorities estimate that the number of migrant arrivals to the border could swell to 10,000 in the upcoming weeks if the situation isn’t resolved.CNN’s Nadine Schmidt, Katharina Krebs, Antonia Mortensen and Magda Chodownik contributed reporting.