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MOSCOW, March 26 (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Saturday plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, a warning against increased Western military support for Ukraine.
Putin said the move was triggered by Britain’s decision last week to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium armor-piercing bombs. The Russian leader had earlier falsely claimed that the munitions had a nuclear component.
He then softened his tone, but insisted in a state television interview that aired Saturday night that the munitions posed an additional danger to Ukraine’s military and civilians.
Unlike strategic nuclear weapons, which are more powerful and have longer range, tactical nuclear weapons are designed to be used on the battlefield. Putin said Russia plans to maintain control over the storage facility it plans to ship to Belarus, whose construction is due to be completed by July 1.
Putin did not say how many nuclear weapons Russia would keep in Belarus. The U.S. government believes Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, including bombs, short-range missile warheads and artillery shells that can be carried by tactical aircraft.
In an interview, Putin argued that Russia was emulating the United States by deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, noting that the United States has nuclear weapons in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
“We are doing what they have been doing for decades, stationing them in certain allies, preparing platforms for launch and training their staff,” Putin said. “We will do the same thing.”
Russia already stores its tactical nuclear weapons in dedicated depots on its territory, and moving some of the arsenal to a storage facility in Belarus would raise the stakes in a conflict in Ukraine by bringing them closer to Russian aircraft and missiles already stationed there.
Some hawkish commentators in Russia have long urged the Kremlin to place tactical nuclear weapons close to the weapons to signal to the West that they are ready to use them.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has long demanded the use of nuclear weapons against NATO, Putin said. Belarus shares borders with three NATO members – Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – and Russia used its territory as a staging ground to send troops to Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Putin noted that Russia helped modernize Belarusian military aircraft last year to enable them to carry nuclear warheads. He said 10 of these planes were ready. The nuclear weapons could also be launched by Iskander short-range missiles that Russia supplied to Belarus last year, he said.
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svyatlana Tikhanuskaya said the deal to transfer tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus “underscores the threat Lukashenko’s regime poses to regional security”.
“Europe will not be safe unless the Belarusian dictator is deposed and brought to court for crimes against our country and Ukraine,” Tsikhanouskaya wrote in English on Twitter.
In a state television interview about the depleted uranium munitions that Britain had promised to send to Ukraine, Putin accused the munitions of leaving radioactive traces and contaminating farmland.
“These weapons are harmful not only to the combatants, but also to the people and the environment living in these territories,” he said.
Putin added that Russia has large stocks of similar ammunition but has not used them so far.
Depleted uranium is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process needed to make nuclear weapons. These munitions do not produce a nuclear reaction but emit low levels of radiation. The United Nations nuclear watchdog has warned of the possible exposure hazard.
The shell was developed by the United States during the Cold War to destroy Soviet tanks, including the T-72 that Ukraine now faces as it pushes to break the deadlock in the east. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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