Russia may deploy Oreshnik missiles in Belarus

The statement was made at a summit in Minsk on December 6, where Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a mutual defense treaty on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Russia-Belarus Union State.

"Today we have signed an agreement on ensuring security with all available forces and means, so I consider it feasible to deploy systems such as Oreshnik on the territory of Belarus," Putin said.

The Russian president added that the deployment could be carried out in the second half of 2025, when the Oreshnik's mass production ramps up and it officially enters service with Russia's strategic forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko at a summit in Minsk on December 6. (Photo: Reuters)

Russia first fired Oreshnik missiles at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on November 21, a move that Mr. Putin saw as a response to Ukraine's use of long-range American ATACM missiles and British Storm Shadow missiles to attack Russian territory with Western permission.

President Putin said Russia could use Oreshnik again, including against "decision-making centers" in Kiev, if Ukraine continued to attack Russia with long-range Western weapons.

The Russian leader claimed that the Oreshnik missile cannot be intercepted and is as destructive as a nuclear weapon, even when equipped with a conventional warhead.

Last month, Russian President Putin approved changes to lower the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to broader conventional attacks and extend Moscow's nuclear deterrent to cover Belarus.

Nuclear weapons were withdrawn from Belarus after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but last year Mr Putin announced that Russia was re-deploying tactical nuclear missiles there as a deterrent to the West.

President Putin stressed that the new mutual defense treaty "will help reliably protect the security of Russia and Belarus."

Hoa Vu (Source: Reuters)

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/nga-co-the-trien-khai-ten-lua-oreshnik-o-belarus-ar911980.html