Belarus has begun joint exercises with Russia on the use of nuclear weapons

Exercises on the combat use of nuclear weapons and nuclear support have begun in Belarus.

This was reported by the countryʼs Ministry of Defense.

They say that the purpose of the exercises is to increase the level of personnel training, test the readiness of the Airborne Forces to perform their tasks, and organize combat operations from unprepared areas.

The exercises are being conducted jointly with the Russian troops, with whom they plan to "work out the issues of delivering nuclear munitions and preparing them for use". The main focus will be on "working out issues of stealth, moving over long distances, and conducting calculations for the use of forces and means".

The Belarusian Ministry of Defense emphasized that the exercises are planned in nature, "not directed against third countries and do not pose a threat to security in the region".

Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus

In May 2023, the defense ministers of Russia and Belarus signed documents on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. Already in June of that year, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko reported that his country had begun receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons.

He claimed that some of the samples were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs that the United States dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Then Putin said that Russia supposedly has more nuclear weapons than NATO countries. And some of them — the first tactical nuclear warheads — have already been delivered to Belarus.

In January 2025, Lukashenko declared that Belarus would soon receive the “Oreshnik” missile system from Russia. According to him, initially there would be ten missile systems, but later their number could be increased.

The fact that “Oreshnik” was deployed in Belarus became known in December 2025. Then the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine knows exactly where in Belarus this missile system will be deployed, and is passing this information on to partners.

Reuters has learned that Russia has likely deployed its “Oreshnik” hypersonic ballistic missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, at a former air base in eastern Belarus.

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