Putin announces the stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the former Soviet republic of Belarus. The governments in Moscow and Minsk had agreed on this, Putin told state television on Saturday evening. In addition, the Russian President announced that he would increase tank production and use depleted uranium shells in Ukraine if Kiev received such ammunition from the West.

The Kremlin chief emphasized that Russia is not violating international treaties by stationing tactical nuclear weapons in this way. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine for more than a year. Belarus and its ruler Alexander Lukashenko are among Moscow’s closest allies.

Tactical nuclear weapons have a shorter range than ICBMs. This is Russia’s response to tensions with NATO over the course of Putin’s war against Ukraine. Specifically, it is a reaction to the possible delivery of uranium ammunition from Great Britain to Ukraine. The projectiles with depleted uranium have a special impact, for example to destroy tanks.

Preliminary work completed on July 1st

Belarusian ruler Lukashenko has long asked for nuclear weapons to be stationed on his territory, Putin said on television. Iskander missile complexes have also been handed over to the neighboring country. The Kremlin chief announced that the construction of a nuclear weapons bay in Belarus will be completed on July 1. There was initially no information from Minsk.

In the past, Putin has repeatedly called on the United States to withdraw nuclear weapons from Germany because Moscow sees this as a threat to its security. Russia is not stationing any strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus that could reach the United States, for example. The range of tactical nuclear weapons is given as several hundred kilometers. The explosive effect is therefore between 1 and 50 kilotons of TNT.

1600 tanks for war against Ukraine

According to Putin, Russia will also increase its own tank production in view of the western supply of tanks to Ukraine. “The total number of tanks in the Russian army will exceed Ukraine’s by three times, even more than three times,” Putin said on state television on Saturday evening. While Ukraine will get 420 to 440 tanks from the west, Russia will build 1,600 new tanks or modernize existing tanks.

Ex-President Dmitry Medvedev had already announced the production of 1,500 tanks this week. Putin also said Russia could produce three times the amount of ammunition that western Ukraine wants to supply. The national armaments industry is developing at a rapid pace. However, he did not want to overly militarize his own economy, the Kremlin chief claimed. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine for more than a year.

In fact, a government commission has already been set up in Moscow to ensure that the economy meets the needs of the military. While the Russian economy is suffering severely from Western sanctions, the defense industry has been working at full speed for months.

Putin also wants to react to the possible delivery of uranium ammunition from Great Britain to Ukraine. The projectiles with depleted uranium have a special impact, for example to destroy tanks. “Without exaggeration, we have hundreds of thousands of such missiles,” Putin said. So far, however, they have not been used. Uranium ammunition is “one of the most harmful and dangerous for humans” because the uranium nucleus causes radioactive dust and contaminates the soil.