Lukashenko Claims Belarus Is Receiving Russian Tactical Nuclear Weapons

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko announced Wednesday his country has begun receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons and “everything is ready” for their deployment.

“It could take just a few days for us to get what we had asked for, and even a bit more,” he boasted.

Lukashenko was evasive about how many Russian nuclear bombs are actually in Belarus at the moment, saying only that the requested inventory is being delivered “little by little.” He insisted that, as of Wednesday morning, he is in possession of “missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia” and they would reach their deployment positions “in several days.”

Lukashenko claimed the weapons delivered by Russia are “three times more powerful” than the bombs dropped on Imperial Japan in World War II.

If Lukashenko is telling the truth, it would mark the first time Russia has moved nuclear weapons beyond its borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin said in March that he would send nukes to Belarus in response to the British supplying depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine. He announced on May 25 that a deal had been signed for Belarus to host battlefield nuclear weapons that would remain under Moscow’s control.

Both Russian and Belarusian officials insisted the deployment was necessary due to the “extremely sharp escalation of threats” from the Western world, as Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu put it. They also cited Ukraine’s pending counteroffensive as justification for drawing a nuclear red line along the Belarusian border.

Lukashenko claimed on May 25 that “the movement of the nuclear weapons has begun,” but he did not clarify how many warheads were in motion, or whether any of them were in Belarus yet.

Putin implied last week that the Russian weapons would not actually arrive in Belarus until early July, when suitable storage facilities would be ready to accept them.

In addition to contradicting Putin on the timetable for delivery, Lukashenko has claimed Belarus would be able to detonate the weapons at its own discretion.

“I believe it is unlikely that anyone would want to wage war against a country that has such weapons. It is a weapon of deterrence,” the Belarusian dictator said in an interview with Russian media on Tuesday.

“God forbid if I have to make a decision to use this weapon in modern times. But I won’t hesitate, should there be an aggression against us,” he said.

Lukashenko later clarified that he would consult with Putin before ordering a nuclear strike, but he expected immediate approval if he made such a request.

“I pick up the phone, and wherever he is, he picks it up. If he calls, I pick it up any time. It’s no problem at all to coordinate launching a strike,” he said of his relationship with Putin.

Lukashenko told Russia’s Tass news service that he expected Russian nuclear weapons to remain in Belarus indefinitely, as a deterrent against alleged Western aggression.

“We will bring an end to the war in Ukraine, as the major preconditions for that are already in place, but the lunatics in the West will continue to create a ton of problems for us in the future,” he said.

“The lunatic NATO members are holding drills. Some are reproaching us that we are seeking to deploy nuclear weapons on the eve of NATO’s summit in Vilnius, but they are conducting drills that involve tens of thousands of people from all over the NATO bloc. That’s why this region will remain rather dangerous,” he complained.

Lukashenko suggested Belarus is preparing to accept much more powerful Russian warheads and intercontinental ballistic missiles to deliver them, although he insisted such weapons would be purely intended as an enhanced deterrence against Western aggression.

“Am I going to fight America? No,” he said.