Defense minister: Belarusian unit’s nuclear training coming to an end in Russia

April 14, BPN. Russia will finish training a Belarusian unit to use nuclear weapons next week, Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin said while inspecting troops at a training range in the Brest region on April 14.

“We have hardware and aircraft that can carry nuclear warheads. We have received a modern Iskander system, which is also capable of firing missiles with nuclear warheads,” Chrenin told journalists. “Next week, a suited unit would complete its training in Russia and come home.”

He went on to say that one should not fear tactical nuclear weapons. He quoted Alaksandr Łukašenka as describing them as a measure of “last resort. Nobody is going to use them.”

“This is a serious strategic deterrence factor. Let it be like medicine for the sickheads who think they can talk to us from the position of power,” the defense minister said.

He opined that “not everyone heard the important message” in Alaksandr Łukašenka’s state of the union address two weeks ago: “If necessary, we will also have strategic nuclear weapons.”

“And if the hostile rhetoric continues, that will be the next step. We will respond to force only with force. It’s the only language the West understands,” Chrenin said.

Last month, Vladimir Putin said Russia plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. He also claimed that Russia will honor its non-proliferation commitments.

“We don’t pass [nuclear weapons to Belarus]. And the USA does not pass them to its allies. Basically, we do everything that it has been doing for decades. It has them in certain allied countries, preparing their carriers and their crews,” he said.