Russia has deployed its nuclear-capable ballistic missile Orechnik to Belarus, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced on Thursday during his annual conference in Minsk.
Lukashenko stated that the missile arrived in Belarus on Wednesday and is now operational. Belarus, a former Soviet republic and EU neighbour, served as a launchpad for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that mass production of the missile had begun. He had previously suggested it could be stationed in Belarus by 2025.
Belarus had also confirmed in August that joint military exercises with Russia in September would involve the Orechnik missile.
The large-scale drills caused concern among NATO countries, following an unprecedented influx of suspected Russian drones into Polish territory just days earlier.
The Orechnik was first used by Russia in November 2024, without a nuclear payload, to strike a military factory in Dnipro, central Ukraine.
