Belarus has begun exercises on the combat use of nuclear weapons. What does it mean?

The Ministry of Defense of Belarus announced the start of exercises for units of the combat use of nuclear weapons and nuclear support. They are carried out jointly with Russia, the Belarusian department reported.

The purpose of the training is, in particular, to test the readiness of weapons and equipment to “perform tasks and organize combat use from unplanned areas,” the Belarusian military department noted.

Particular attention is planned to be paid to the secrecy of movement, marches over long distances and carrying out calculations for the use of forces and means, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus said. They added that this training is planned, is not directed against third countries and does not threaten security in the region.

Nuclear weapons in Belarus. Since 2023, Russia began deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, including the Iskander and Oreshnik missile systems. Moscow claims that it is not violating the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, since it does not transfer ammunition to Minsk and maintains control over it.

After this, in 2024, the Belarusian military participated in exercises of non-strategic nuclear forces that took place on Russian territory. However, such trainings on the territory of the republic have not previously been reported.

Journalist and military expert Ilya Volzhsky confirmed to Novaya-Europa that such exercises regularly take place in Russia. But they decided to conduct these trainings on the territory of Belarus for the first time.

At the same time, according to Volzhsky, such an event requires careful preparation and can hardly be a response to the Ukrainian Armed Forces drone attack on Moscow that occurred on Sunday night.