December 10, Pozirk. Days after an opposition group called into question the presence of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus, Alaksandar Łukašenka has said he brought dozens of nuclear warheads into the country.
“That they [opponents] say that this is a joke means they have missed it. They did not even see how we brought them here,” state media quoted him as saying at a meeting with factory workers in Barysaŭ, Minsk region.
However, the BelPol association of former law enforcers said last month it had found no evidence of nuclear weapons presence in Belarus.
Even though the Belarusian army has the Iskander tactical missile systems, it does not automatically mean that it has nuclear warheads for these systems. These are produced in small quantities and their presence in Belarus has not yet been recorded, it noted.
The Belarusian ruler also said today that he is determined to persuade Moscow to deploy intermediate-range ballistic missiles Oreshnik in Belarus.
“I have warned all of my enemies, ‘friends’ and contenders: as soon as you step on the border line, my response will be as quick as lightning,” he said.
“I will not hesitate to use nuclear or other weapons. We agreed with the Russians on it even before they returned nuclear weapons to us. Not yet the weapons we had given back to them. Those were strategic weapons, while these are tactical nuclear weapons. But anyway, they are five times as powerful as the Oreshnik,” he said.
He went on to claim that Belarus has around 30 sites ready to host Oreshnik missiles that Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to supply next year.
“We will choose [the sites] because there must be a minimum distance to the objects of strikes. We will station and aim them,” he stressed.
