Belarus's authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka said "several dozen" Russian nuclear warheads are now deployed in his country and that about 30 sites are being considered as potential locations for Oreshnik missile systems, which were recently combat-tested in a massive strike on Ukraine.
Lukashenka made the comments on December 10 when visiting the Belarusian city of Barysau. They come four days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Oreshnik missile systems would be deployed in Belarus in parallel with their introduction into Russia's Strategic Missile Forces.
Putin said the deployment of Oreshniks in Belarus could happen as soon as the second half of 2025.
"Many have said, 'It's a joke, no one has deployed anything.' Yet we did. Saying it's a joke means they have missed it. They didn't even notice how we brought
them here," the state-run news agency BelTA quoted Lukashenka as saying about Russian tactical nuclear warheads inside Belarus.
The developments open a new phase in the military strategy and development of relations between Russia and Belarus. They also underscore a further deepening of military integration between the two countries and Russia's increasing military footprint in Eastern Europe.
The Oreshnik missile was launched for the first time by Russia last month during an attack against Ukraine's city of Dnipro.
Putin has said it is part of Moscow's response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil with U.S.-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, and British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
The specific technical details of the Oreshnik remain classified, but it is reportedly designed to increase the survivability and effectiveness of Russia's nuclear arsenal, particularly in the context of evolving global security challenges.
Lukashenka, Putin's closest ally since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has allowed his neighbor to use Belarusian territory as a staging area for the aggression.
Belarus's growing military integration with Russia started to gain momentum in the early 2010s.
That alliance was institutionalized between the two countries in the 1990s through the Union State agreement and one that has only grown deeper since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and the outbreak of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
With Belarusian soil a base for Russian missiles, the strategic value of Belarus has become even more pronounced.
The country borders NATO member states, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, making it a crucial spot for Russian military deployments, especially given the heightened tensions with the West over Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine.
Lukashenka also suggested, without providing evidence, that Belarus would retain control over the selection of targets the Oreshniks would hit.
"The targets will be determined by us in Belarus, not by the Russians," he said but underlined that the two sides would collaborate in the event of military need.