Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the first batch of tactical nuclear weapons are already positioned in Belarus, a key Russian ally in the offensive against Ukraine. Putin added that the weapons will only be used if Russia's territory was threatened.
Speaking at Russia's flagship economic forum in St Petersburg, Putin said that transferring the tactical nuclear warheads would be completed by the end of the summer. This marks Russia's first deployment outside Russian borders since the early 90s. Putin's nuclear threats had picked up momentum in March after he revealed he had struck a deal with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko to station nukes in the country, and pointed to the US stationing such weapons at bases in Eurpoe. This also came shortly after Russia suspended participation in the US-Russian START agreement on nuclear arms reduction.
Responding to the latest development, the US, which has repeatedly been cautioning against the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine, said it does not believe Russia will resort to this. While there are no official statistics about Russia's tactical warheads, the US believes Russia has around 2,000 such working tactical warheads, which is approximately 10 times more than the Washington, Reuters stated. Lukashenko said earlier this week that Russian tactical nuclear weapons included some three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan in 1945.
Putin's confirmation comes amid Ukraine's claims that it has been reclaiming territory in its ongoing counteroffensive. Ukraine says it has recaptured seven villages, but Russia's Defence Ministry said on Friday its forces had repelled numerous attempted counterattacks by the Ukrainian army, inflicting severe losses on Kyiv's forces. Putin said Western-supplied hardware such as German-made Leopard tanks was regularly destroyed and if Kyiv got US-made F-16 fighter jets from its allies, they would go up in flames too.
What are tactical nuclear weapons?
These are used for specific tactical gains on the battlefield, like destroying enemy troops or weapons, rather than widespread damage like destriying cities. These warheads can be delivered via a variety of missiles, torpedoes and gravity bombs from naval, air or ground forces. Putin had said in April that said that Russia helped upgrade 10 Belarusian aircraft to allow them to carry nuclear weapons, adding that Russia also has given Belarus the Iskander short-range missile systems that can be fitted with warheads.
According to reports, the Operational Tactical Missile System (OTMS) Iskander is the most dangerous weapon of the Russian Armed Force. The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, which has a 1,084-kilometre border with Ukraine, would allow Russian aircraft and missiles to reach potential targets there more easily and quickly if Moscow decides to use them, Al Jazeera stated.
Analysts believe that Russia's goal is to warn the West and force NATO and Ukraine's Western allies to reduce supplies of weapons.
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) prevents the spread of nuclear weapons to non-nuclear powers. In his Saturday statement, Putin argued that stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus was not in breach of this this agreement. He also stressed on the fact that Russia will retain control over the weapons deployed in Belarus, in line with the NPT.
