Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced this Thursday (9) that Belarus will participate in the second phase of the current tactical nuclear maneuvers near Ukraine, which he ordered in response to provocations and threats from the West.
“Given that non-strategic nuclear weapons are installed on Belarusian territory, we proposed this time to our friends and allies (…) to participate in one of the phases of these exercises,” Putin said, according to the news agency RIA News.
The Russian chief executive stated that Belarusian forces, which received tactical nuclear weapons from Moscow after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, would participate in the third phase of the exercises. “The relevant orders have already been issued to the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff,” Putin declared.
On Tuesday (7), the Belarusian Armed Forces began a surprise inspection of tactical nuclear forces by order of dictator Alexander Lukashenko.
Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said the exercises would analyze the combat readiness of a division of Iskander tactical missile systems and a squadron of Su-25 aircraft capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons. “The inspection has an exclusively defensive character,” said Lukashenko.
Putin on Monday (6) ordered missile exercises in the Southern Military District, which includes the four Ukrainian regions annexed by Moscow in 2022.
The Russian military intends to “unconditionally guarantee the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Russian state in response to provocative statements and threats made by certain Western leaders against the Russian Federation,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a news conference on Monday that the exercises were a response to statements by French President Emmanuel Macron and senior British officials.
“They talked about the readiness and even the intention to send military contingents to Ukraine, that is, to pit NATO soldiers against the Russian military. This is a new spiral of increasing tension. It is unprecedented and requires special attention and special measures,” he said.
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