Putin: Russia is stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus. The governments in Moscow and Minsk agreed on that, Putin told state television on Saturday evening. With such a deployment, Russia does not violate international treaties, the Kremlin chief stressed. Russia has been waging an offensive war against Ukraine for more than a year. Belarus and its ruler Alexander Lukashenko are among Moscow’s closest allies.

Tactical nuclear weapons have a shorter range than ICBMs. This is Russia’s response to tensions with NATO during Putin’s war against Ukraine. Specifically, it is a response to the possible supply of uranium munitions from Britain to Ukraine. The projectiles with depleted uranium have a special impact, for example to destroy tanks.

Belarusian ruler Lukashenko had long asked for nuclear weapons to be stationed on his territory, Putin said on television. Iskander missile complexes have also been transferred to the neighboring country. The head of the Kremlin announced that the construction of a nuclear weapons bay in Belarus will be completed on July 1. There was initially no information from Minsk.

In the past, Putin has repeatedly called on the United States to withdraw nuclear weapons from Germany, as Moscow sees this as a threat to its security. Russia does not station strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus that could reach the United States, for example. The range of tactical nuclear weapons is given as several hundred kilometers. The explosive effect is therefore between 1 and 50 kilotons of TNT. (sda/dpa)