General Staff: Nuclear weapons in Belarus currently 'unlikely'.

The presence of Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory remains currently unlikely, General Staff Deputy Chief Oleksii Hromov told[1] Ukrinform on July 5. "It is necessary to create special conditions for the storage of nuclear munitions, to deploy a base for their maintenance. This is a very complex technological process," Hromov said in the interview.

"Today, the presence of nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus is unlikely," he said. He did note, however, that it is difficult to assess the danger of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons given its complete disregard for international law as evidenced in Russia's destruction of the Kakhovka dam on June 6. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin signed[2] an agreement on placing Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory on May 25.

Shoigu reportedly said that control over the weaponry would remain with Moscow. On June 14, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claimed[3] that his country had already received the first weapons shipment from Russia. This was reiterated[4] by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on June 16.

Ukraine's military intelligence refuted[5] these claims on June 20, saying that not "a single nuclear warhead" has been delivered so far.

Belarus Weekly: Lukashenko brags about saving Russia; Wagner boss ends up in Belarus Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claims Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has arrived in Belarus several days after his day-long insurrection in Russia. Meanwhile, Lukashenko denies claims that camps for Wagner mercenaries are under construction in Belarus.

Russian President Vladimir Put...

News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He also volunteers as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukrainer.

Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

References

1. ^ told (www.ukrinform.ua)
2. ^ signed (kyivindependent.com)
3. ^ claimed (www.reuters.com)
4. ^ reiterated (kyivindependent.com)
5. ^ refuted (kyivindependent.com)
6. ^ Belarus Weekly: Lukashenko brags about saving Russia; Wagner boss ends up in BelarusBelarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko claims Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has arrived in Belarus several days after his day-long insurrection in Russia.

   Meanwhile, Lukashenko denies claims that camps for Wagner mercenaries are under construction in Belarus.

   Russian President Vladimir Put... (kyivindependent.com)