The Russian President said on Saturday that Moscow will soon send “tactical nuclear weapons” to neighboring Belarus and that 10 Belarusian planes are already equipped for strikes.
Like a catchphrase, Russian President Vladimir Putin again waved the nuclear threat on Saturday in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. After putting its nuclear weapons “combat ready” in February 2022 and announcing in October that the Russian “deterrent forces” had been training, this time it unveiled concrete measures.
Neighboring Belarus, which is officially not involved in the conflict but has already served as a retreat base for Moscow’s troops, according to Kiev, is preparing to receive “tactical” Russian nuclear weapons on its territory.
“There is nothing unusual here: the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long stationed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies,” Vladimir Putin said.
“Tactical” nuclear weapons
Since February 2022 and the start of the war, the notion of a “tactical” nuclear weapon has been mentioned many times, depending on Vladimir Putin’s threats. In theory, a tactical weapon aims to destroy a specific military target, such as a city or geographic area. It is considered “low” power between 1 and 100 kilotons.
It is about countering the so-called “strategic” weapons, at the heart of the concept of deterrence, which have the capacity for massive destruction, with a force of several megatons.
In fact, the use of a tactical nuclear weapon would be perceived by the international community, particularly NATO, as unwarranted aggression. Former CIA director David Petraeus revealed on the ABC channel last October that in the event of a Russian nuclear strike, the western allies would respond by eliminating “every Russian conventional force that we can see.”
Because although they are considered less powerful than their strategic version, tactical weapons can cause irreversible damage.
“These bombs destroy everything in an area of tens of square kilometers, people, nature, infrastructure and communication networks. But the area will also be contaminated with radiation for a long time and will not prevent anyone from entering it,” Colonel Michel Goya explained to BFMTV last October.
The bomb that destroyed the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945 would be considered tactical today, having a strength of around 15 megatons.
Ten Belarusian aircraft are already equipped
Deployment of these tactical nuclear weapons can be via a bomb, grenade, or missile, all capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. Previous statements by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko may shed light on what type of armament might be deployed in the event of a Russian nuclear strike.
The Belarusian president revealed at a meeting with Vladimir Putin last December that Moscow has Minsk “the S-400 missile systems and especially the Iskander system“.
The latter include short- or medium-range ballistic missiles of Russian design that can carry a nuclear warhead and are therefore potentially mobilizable for a tactical nuclear strike.
Alexander Lukashenko added at the time that “we are training with the Russians crews capable of flying planes that carry these specific payloads.”
An initiative that Vladimir Putin specified this Saturday: “From April we will start training the crews. And on July 1 we will complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus.”
To then add: “We have already helped our Belarusian colleagues and equipped their planes (…) without violating our international commitments on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Ten planes are ready to use this type of weapon.”
The threat of depleted uranium shells
In addition to these tactical nuclear weapons, could Russia also use depleted uranium shells on the Ukrainian battlefield? At least that’s the threat that left Vladimir Putin hanging.
It all started with comments by UK Deputy Defense Secretary Annabel Goldie on Monday, March 20th, in a reply to an MP, hinting that the UK intended to supply Kiev with shells that “contain depleted uranium”.
This ammunition is presented as particularly useful for piercing armor of military vehicles due to its high density. A document published on the website of the Institute for Strategic Research of the Military School (Irsem) notes that “due to its particularly high density (…), depleted uranium is used in aeronautics and in many space industries, but also for keels of boats.Due to its very high perforation capacity, it is also used in the armor sector.
But the radioactivity of these munitions remains a matter of debate. Irsem specifies that when depleted uranium shells are fired, “part of it is pulverized in the form of small particles of 2 to 10 microns of uranium oxide, which evaporate in space”. If inhaled, they can cause kidney disease. But the munitions’ radiotoxicity, which could lead to leukemia, is still a matter of debate, as is its environmental impact.
In any case, according to London’s statements, Vladimir Putin assured that these depleted uranium shells were among the “most dangerous” munitions because they led to “radiation dust”.
“Russia, of course, has something to answer for. We have, without exaggeration, hundreds of thousands of shells of this type. We are not using them at the moment,” he said.
This Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made it clear that Moscow would not change its goals in Belarus, despite Western criticism sparked by Vladimir Putin’s recent statements.