Lukashenko says Belarus hosts dozens of Russian nuclear weapons and prepares for Oreshnik

# Lukashenko says Belarus hosts dozens of Russian nuclear weapons and prepares for Oreshnik

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country is hosting dozens of Russian nuclear weapons and is preparing facilities for the deployment of Moscow’s newest hypersonic ballistic missile.

The AP report in this packet, published on December 10, 2024, places the remarks in the context of a new security pact signed by Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin days earlier. That pact gave Belarus Russian security guarantees, including the possible use of Russian nuclear weapons in response to aggression. Lukashenko’s comments therefore went beyond routine alliance rhetoric and into explicit confirmation of a nuclear presence on Belarusian soil.

According to the report, Lukashenko said Belarus currently has “several dozen” Russian tactical nuclear weapons. He also suggested that the West had failed to notice when they were brought into the country. The article notes that Russia has not disclosed exact numbers, which makes Lukashenko’s statement one of the clearest public indications yet of the scale of the deployment.

The strategic implications are substantial. Belarus borders Ukraine and several NATO members, so Russian weapons stationed there shorten flight times and alter the military geometry of eastern and central Europe. The report says that deploying tactical nuclear weapons and the Oreshnik missile in Belarus would expand Russia’s reach and flexibility if Moscow chose to use them.

Lukashenko also said Belarus would prepare sites for the Oreshnik, a missile Russia used for the first time against Ukraine last month. Putin has said the missile could be stationed in Belarus in the second half of 2025, though it would remain under Russian control. That detail matters because it shows how the two governments are dividing roles: Minsk can host and select targets, but Moscow retains command.

The packet also points out that Belarus still has about 30 Cold War-era facilities suited for nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, which suggests the infrastructure already exists for further militarization. That history helps explain why the country can be folded so quickly into Russia’s strategic planning.

The remarks are also linked to changes in Russia’s nuclear doctrine, which has lowered the threshold for using nuclear weapons and explicitly brought Belarus under the Russian umbrella. In that sense, Lukashenko’s statement is less a surprise than a public confirmation that Minsk has been pulled deeper into Moscow’s deterrence posture.

For Europe, the message is unsettling. A Belarus armed with Russian nuclear weapons and future Oreshnik deployments presents a more immediate threat posture to neighboring states than Belarus did before the war. For Ukraine, it means an even more militarized border region. And for NATO, it is another sign that the Russia-Belarus relationship is becoming more operationally integrated.