Budanov: Russian nuclear warheads have been delivered to Belarus

1 September, 2023 Iskander-M of the Belarusian military, which is capable of using nuclear warheads. August 2023. Belarus.

Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Belarus Belarus has received nuclear warheads from Russia, which have recently been delivered to the country. The Chief of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, said that they would not be used.

"This is a means of nuclear deterrence and a means of raising the stakes. By the way, as for Belarus' nuclear weapons, just a few days ago the first warheads were delivered," the Defence Intelligence chief noted. Before that, large-scale training with nuclear simulators was conducted.

Budanov also said that he had already familiarized himself with "rather unpleasant documents for Belarus," namely the original documents on the results of the training.

Chief of the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov. Photo credits: The New York Times

"The Russian 12th Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, the one responsible for these very weapons, wrote that the results of training with nuclear simulators for the Iskander system, which are available in small quantities in Belarus, recognized the complete unpreparedness of Belarus to operate such weapons," the intelligence chief summarized. At the same time, Belarusians have shown the highest possible result in the possession of Tochka-U tactical missile systems.

In late June, Lukashenko said that "most" of the Russian nuclear weapons that were planned to be delivered to Belarus had already been in the country. On July 22, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) noted that there was "no reason to doubt" Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that Russia had moved a first batch of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus. In June, Putin claimed that nuclear weapons were already in Belarus.

Western officials neither confirmed nor denied these statements.

Iskander-M of the Belarusian military, which is capable of using nuclear warheads. August 2023. Belarus.

Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Belarus

Previously, representatives of the U.S. intelligence community reported that, according to their data, no work was underway in Belarus to build storage facilities for tactical nuclear weapons.

Until July, Putin and the de facto head of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, talked about their construction.

However, U.S. intelligence recognizes that there are facilities on Belarusian territory left over from the Soviet era that could be used to store nuclear charges.