Russia threatens to equip Belarusian warplanes with nuclear missile capability
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Moscow has said that it will equip the Belarusian warplanes with nuclear missile capability as Russian soldiers arrived in their neighbouring country.
The Kremlin insisted that the manoeuvres were part of a defensive operation but some commentators believe that Vladimir Putin is trying to draw Belarus into his war with Ukraine by sending troops there.
Russia’s defence ministry said the decision to send soldiers to Belarus for the first time since March was “dictated by the ongoing activity in the areas bordering us.”
The Belarusian border, which lies 140 miles from Kyiv, was used as a launchpad for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
On Saturday, the Russian foreign ministry said it would equip Belarusian Su-25 warplanes with the capability to carry nuclear-capable missiles but that it was not yet arming Minsk with the missiles.
Belarus does not have any nuclear missiles of its own and its army of around 50,000 is not regarded as an effective force by defence experts.
Moscow and Minsk officials have said that Ukraine is planning to invade Belarus despite providing no evidence to substantiate their claim. In recent weeks, the Belarusian army has tested its mobilisations procedures and called-up reservists. Up to 60 T-72 tanks had been taken out of storage in Belarus and sent to Belgorod in Russia, near the border with Ukraine, according to reports.
A Belarusian NGO, though, played down concerns of a new Russian ground assault on Kyiv originating in Minsk. It said that the Russian soldiers were newly mobilised men sent to bases across Belarus without tanks or armoured personnel vehicles.
