Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday he would not hesitate to order the use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to be stationed in Belarus should his country face aggression.
Earlier this year, Vladimir Putin announced plans to deploy short-range nuclear weapons to Moscow’s neighbor and ally Belarus. The move was widely taken as a warning to the West, which is stepping up its military support to Ukraine.
The Russian President has stressed that Russia will retain control over them, but Lukashenko’s statement contradicted this.
“God forbid I have to decide today to use these weapons, but we would not hesitate if we were threatened with aggression,” said Lukashenko, who is known for his stormy remarks, according to the state news agency BelTA.
Russian officials initially did not comment on Lukashenko’s comments.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko (pictured left on Friday with Vladimir Putin) said Tuesday he would not hesitate to order the use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to be stationed in Belarus should his country face aggression
Lukashenko stressed that it was he who asked Putin to station Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus, and not the other way around.
He argued that the move was necessary to deter potential aggression.
“I don’t think anyone would be willing to fight against a country that has these weapons,” Lukashenko said. “These are deterrent weapons.”
During the meeting with Lukashenko on Friday, Putin said that works on the construction of nuclear weapons facilities will be completed by July 7-8, after which they will be quickly transferred to Belarusian territory.
Tactical nuclear weapons are designed to destroy enemy troops and weapons on the battlefield.
They have a relatively short range and much lower yields (from a fraction of a kiloton to about 50 kilotons) than nuclear warheads, which are built into ICBMs and can wipe out entire cities.
In comparison, strategic nuclear weapons can have a yield from 100 kilotons to over a megaton, for which far larger warheads are available.
A single megaton is 1,000 kilotons.
Earlier this year, Vladimir Putin announced plans to deploy short-range nuclear weapons to Moscow’s neighbor and ally Belarus. The move was widely taken as a warning to the West, which is stepping up its military support to Ukraine. Pictured: Russia’s Yars ICBM drives down a street ahead of a military parade in Moscow May 9
Only the United States had used nuclear weapons out of anger – in the attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
“Fat Man”, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, had an explosive force of 21 kilotons. An estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people died in the explosion.
The most powerful atomic bomb ever developed and tested was the Russian Tsar Bomb, which had a blast power of between 50 and 58 megatons.
Lukashenko said that Belarus does not need Russia’s strategic nuclear weapons stationed on its territory. “Am I going to fight America?” No,” he said.
However, the Belarusian leader added that Belarus is also providing ICBM facilities with nuclear missiles, just in case.
Along with Ukraine and Kazakhstan, Belarus housed a significant portion of Soviet nuclear arsenals when they were all still part of the Soviet Union.
These weapons were exported to Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 under a US-sponsored deal
Lukashenko stressed that it was he who asked Putin to station Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus, and not the other way around. Pictured: The couple is seen during a meeting in Sochi, Russia on June 9
Russia did not say how many of its tactical nuclear weapons would be sent to Belarus.
The US government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, including bombs that can be carried by aircraft, short-range missile warheads and artillery shells.
Russia used the territory of Belarus to deploy its troops to Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and kept troops and weapons on its ally’s territory.
Lukashenko, who has been in power for 29 years, has depended on Russia’s political and economic support to weather months of protests, mass arrests and Western sanctions following a 2020 election that kept him in power, at home and abroad however, was widely considered manipulated.