MINSK — Belarus took place on Tuesday exercises with missiles and fighter planes capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, which its ally Russia has been deployed there amid tensions with West by Ukraine.
The Belarusian drills began a day after Moscow announced plans to hold similar exercises simulating the use of nuclear weapons on the battlefield, in what it saw as a response to statements by Western officials signaling possible greater involvement in the war in Ukraine. It was the first time Moscow publicly announced such an exercise.
Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said an Iskander short-range missile unit and a squadron of Su-25 fighter jets will take part in the exercises.
Threat to Ukraine
The exercises, carried out jointly with Russia, began the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin assumed a fifth term promising to guarantee the security of his nation.
Last year, Russia moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which also borders Ukraine, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, the latter three NATO members. The authoritarian Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has positioned his country as a stage for war in Ukraine.
Deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which has a 1,084-kilometer (673-mile) border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to hit potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them. It also expands Russia’s ability to attack several NATO allies in central and eastern Europe.
Both Putin and Lukashenko said the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus was aimed at countering perceived Western threats.
Lukashenko on Tuesday described the exercises as “exclusively defensive”arguing that Russian nuclear weapons are intended to deter any possible aggression against Belarus.
Source: With information from AP
