“The transfer of nuclear weapons has begun,” Lukashenko said, in response to a journalist’s question in a video clip broadcast on the unofficial Telegram channel of the Belarusian presidency.
The Russian president had announced on March 25 that Moscow would deploy “tactical” nuclear weapons in Belarus, which is located at the gates of the European Union, which raised fears of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
The announcement drew criticism from the international community, especially Western countries, noting that the Russian president had hinted since the start of the military operation in Ukraine in February 2022 that he could use nuclear weapons.
Last April, Russia announced that it had begun training Belarusian military personnel to use “tactical” nuclear weapons.
Putin has previously announced that ten aircraft have been equipped in Belarus to use similar weapons, pointing out that a special warehouse will be completed by the first of next July.
Advantages of tactical nuclear weapons
- Tactical nuclear weapons are most often distinguished by their size or range or their use for limited military purposes without crushing an entire area and causing widespread radioactive fallout.
- Russia is the world’s number one nuclear power, with a stockpile of about 4,500 nuclear warheads, according to estimates by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
- The short-range tactical weapon comes with small nuclear warheads that support a guidance system and a powerful warhead.
- The range of tactical nuclear weapons is less than 500 km by land, and up to 600 km by air and sea.
- Tactical nuclear weapons are divided in terms of strength into two types, the first is more powerful than the bomb that fell on Hiroshima, and there are other weapons whose destructive power is no more than artillery fire.
- Tactical nuclear warheads can be loaded on different types of missiles that usually carry conventional warheads, such as cruise missiles and artillery shells.
- According to US intelligence, Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons.
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