Lukashenko confirms that Belarus is stocked with nuclear arsenal

According to statements released by the Belarusian state-run news agency Belta on Telegram, President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has disclosed the deployment of over a dozen Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus.

While visiting the Belarusian city of Barysaw, Lukashenko said that despite claims suggesting Russia hasn't deployed nuclear weapons in Belarus, more than a dozen have been sent to the country by Russia according to the Belarusian President. 

"I have brought nuclear warheads here—several dozen of them. Many are saying, 'Oh, it’s a joke, nothing was brought in.' But they were brought in,” Lukashenko explained to reporters according to a transition by the Ukrainian state-run news agency United24. 

“And if they [opponents] are calling it a joke, it means they missed it. They didn’t even notice how we transported them here," Lukashenko added before acknowledging that the weapons were a tremendous responsibility, but an option he would use. 

According to United24, Lukashenko pointed out that no major world power has used a nuclear weapon since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, but he claimed he would use the weapons if enemy forces crossed Belarusian borders.

“I have warned all our enemies, 'friends,' and rivals: if you so much as cross our state border, the response will be immediate. I won’t hesitate—whether it’s nuclear weapons or something else," the president declared,” Lukashenko said.  

Lukashenko has also requested that Russia deploy its new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile to Belarus according to Newsweek, which quoted the Belarusian leader as saying such a deployment “will help calm some heads."

According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Belarus became a non-nuclear state after the fall of the Soviet Union and the full withdrawal of all nuclear weapons occurred in 1996 after Minsk signed several non-proliferation treaties. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By RIA Novosti Archive, CC BY-SA 3.0

However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 began the Belarusian slide back towards having nuclear weapons on its territory. On February 27th, Belarus held a referendum to change the country’s nuclear-free status.

During an interview in March 2023, Vladimir Putin indicated that he intended to deploy Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus around the same time the news broke that nuclear storage facilities meant to house such weapons had been completed in Belarus. 

In May 2023, an agreement between Russia and Belarus was signed by the Defense Ministers of both countries on the storage of nuclear weapons in Belarus, and in June 2023 Lukashenko revealed he had asked Putin to “return nuclear weapons to Minsk.”

On June 16th, 2023, Moscow confirmed that Russia had begun transferring nuclear warheads to Belarus. The location of the weapons was not revealed and both Russia and Belarus later confirmed that Moscow was in full control of the weapons. 

Lukashenko ordered immediate testing regarding the combat readiness of nuclear assets deployed to Belarus in May 2024 and recently penned an agreement with Putin that would see the weapons used to defend Belarus if it came under attack. 

On December 6th, Belarus was integrated into Russia’s nuclear strategy after Putin and Lukashenko signed a treaty finalizing the deployment of Moscow’s nuclear weapons in Belarus, which gave both Moscow and Minsk the ability to use the weapons. 

“Today we will sign an interstate treaty on security guarantees within the framework of the Union State. It establishes mutual allied obligations for ensuring defense, protecting the sovereignty, independence, and constitutional order of Russia and Belarus,” Putin said about the treaty according to United24. 

“This includes the use of all available forces and means. Specifically, this refers to Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed on the territory of the Republic of Belarus at the suggestion of the President of Belarus,” Putin added.

Lukashenko said Belarus would not use the Russian nuclear weapons on its territory without permission but he added: “If Belarus needs it, it will be used.”

Never miss a story! Click here to follow The Daily Digest.