This is the moment Belarusian troops fired gunshots close to a terrified group of migrants at the Polish border, hours before the desperate refugees made fresh attempts to break through barbed wire fences and into the EU.
Video captured by Polish guards shows people, including women and children, lined up along a border fence on the Belarusian side before the sound of a soldier cocking and firing his rifle is heard.
Amid screams from the migrants, two more soldiers can be seen kicking and hitting them before one drops to his knee and raises his gun at them. A Polish soldier can be heard calling to his squad-mate: 'Come, we have to step back!'
Poland released the footage to rubbish claims by Belarus that it was Polish soldiers who had fired the shots, as Minsk tries to discredit its rivals in Warsaw as part of a 'hybrid attack' on the EU using migrants as a weapon.
There are now thousands of desperate people camped out along the Polish border, with the EU saying they were lured to Belarus on false promises of passage to Europe then marched to the border and forced to make illegal crossings.
Poland said more than 250 people attempted the crossing between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, with dozens making it. Around 50 were found and arrested near the town of Białowieża early today, with more being sought.
Polish border guards captured the moment Belarusian troops at the border fired shots near a group of terrified migrants, then kicked and pointed their weapons at them
Thousands of migrants are now camped along the Polish border, with the EU saying they are being forced to attempt illegal crossings by Lukashenko's regime as part of a 'hybrid attack'
Poland says it has an 'obligation' as an EU member to protect the bloc's border from 'attacks' by Belarus, using migrants as a weapon (pictured, Polish border guards)
'It was not a calm night. Indeed, there were many attempts to breach the Polish border,' Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak told broadcaster PR1.
Polish private radio RMF said around 200 people had tried to breach the border on Tuesday afternoon, and a second group of around 60 had tried after midnight.
Blaszczak said all those who tried to cross were detained, and that the force of Polish soldiers stationed at the border had been strengthened to 15,000 from 12,000.
Three EU diplomats told Reuters on late on Tuesday that the bloc was close imposing more sanctions on Belarus over the escalating crisis, targeting around 30 individuals and entities including the Belarusian foreign minister.
Germany's acting Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Twitter on Wednesday the images from the Belarusian border were 'horrific'.
'Mr. Lukashenko ...unscrupulously exploits people seeking refuge as hostages for his cynical power play... But the European Union cannot be blackmailed.' he said.
Maas said the EU would not leave anyone in need alone.
Belarus is already under EU sanctions, levied after Lukashenko hijacked a Ryanair flight over the bloc's airspace to arrest a journalist who criticised his regime.
The EU has also provided sanctuary to Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the exiled Belarusian opposition leader who is widely thought to have beaten Lukashenko in a 2020 ballot that analysts believe was rigged, and voiced support for pro-democracy protesters.
