president of russia Vladimir Putin has the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the old Belarus Soviet Republic announced. Moscow and Minsk have agreed to this, Putin said on state television late on Saturday. Russia is not violating international treaties.
Tactical nuclear weapons have a shorter range than ICBMs. This is Russia’s response to tensions with NATO during Putin’s war with Ukraine. Specifically, it is a reaction to the possible delivery of uranium ammunition from Great Britain to Ukraine. Depleted uranium shells have a special impact, for example to destroy tanks.
Nuclear weapons bay in Belarus
Belarusian ruler Lukashenko has long called for nuclear weapons to be deployed on his territory, Putin said on television. Iskander missile complexes were also delivered to the neighboring country. The head of the Kremlin announced that the construction of a nuclear weapons bay in Belarus will be completed on July 1. Initially, there was no information from Minsk.
In the past, Putin has repeatedly urged the United States to strip Germany of nuclear weapons because Moscow sees it as a threat to its security. Russia is not deploying any strategic nuclear weapons in Belarus that could hit the United States, for example. The range of tactical nuclear weapons is several hundred kilometers. The explosive effect is therefore between 1 and 50 kilotons of TNT.