The first nuclear warheads from Russia were delivered to Belarus only recently. This was stated by the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate (MDI) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov in an interview with Nataliia Moseichuk, which was published on September 1.
Before they were delivered, large-scale training with nuclear simulators for the Iskander system was conducted in Belarus. According to the results of the training, Belarus was recognized as completely unprepared for the use of such weapons. Budanov stated that he had seen the original documents with the results of these tests. At the same time, the Belarusians showed the highest possible result in mastering the "Point-U" technique. In "Iskander" missiles have a range of up to 500 km, in "Point-U" — up to 120 km.
"And again, the question arises, against whom do they launch missiles at a distance of 120 km? You understand that they will be destroyed at the first moment. It is just such a means to raise the stakes in the great geopolitical game. Russia believes that it is playing, but it is not playing, it is being played, it is the last efforts," noted Kyrylo Budanov.
According to Budanov, Russia has had nuclear warheads up to Point-U since Soviet times. These warheads were being disposed of, but now they are being removed from disposal at Rosatom, their shelf life has been extended by one year, and they are being sent to Belarus. Also, according to Budanov, the Russians brought nuclear bombs to Belarus for Su-24M aircraft.
- On May 25, 2023, the defense ministers of Belarus and Russia, Viktor Khrenin and Serhiy Shoigu, signed documents on the placement of non-strategic nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory. So, Russia will place tactical nuclear weapons in a special storage facility in Belarus and only it will be able to control them.
- On June 14, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Oleksandr Lukashenko informed that his country had begun receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons. And he assured that some samples are three times more powerful than the atomic bombs that the USA dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.