The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus announced plans to inspect non-strategic nuclear weapons after a similar statement by Russia.
What did the Minister of Defenсe of Belarus say
The head of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus, Viktor Khrenin, made the following comment:
“Today, we received an order from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus to conduct an unannounced inspection of the forces and means of non-strategic nuclear weapons carriers”.
A division of the Iskander operational and tactical complex and a squadron of Su-25 aircraft are being put on alert to perform the assigned tasks.
The inspection will be conducted in accordance with the time schedule established by the Commander-in-Chief. It will test the entire range of activities from planning, preparation and use of strikes with tactical nuclear munitions.
Victor Khrenin
Minister of Defenсe of the Republic of Belarus
Nuclear exercises in Russia: what is known
The day before, on 6 May, the Russian Ministry of Defence also announced an exercise ‘to improve the readiness of non-strategic nuclear forces to perform combat missions’.
According to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, the likely purpose of these demonstration exercises is to intimidate Western countries in response to recent statements by some of their leaders about the possibility of sending their troops to Ukraine to help defend the territory from Russian occupiers.
