Explainer | Ukraine war: why Russia wants tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus
- Russia’s president signals readiness to escalate the war in Ukraine with plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus
- Such weapons have lower yield and are intended to destroy enemy troops and weapons on the battlefield
The announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he intends to deploy tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus appears to be another attempt to raise the stakes in the conflict in Ukraine.
It follows Putin’s warnings that Moscow is ready to use “all available means”, to fend off attacks on Russian territory, a reference to its nuclear arsenal.
How did Putin explain his move?
Putin said President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has long urged Moscow to station its nuclear weapons in his country, which has close military ties with Russia and was a staging ground for the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Russia already has helped modernise Belarusian warplanes to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons – something that Belarus’ authoritarian leader has repeatedly mentioned.
Putin toned down his language after first falsely claiming that such rounds have nuclear components, but he insisted they pose an additional danger to the civilian population and could contaminate the environment.