Belarus Receives Russian Tactical Nuclear Weapons, Raising Concerns in Europe

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has announced that his country has started taking delivery of Russian tactical nuclear weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

In remarks aired on both Russian and Belarussian state television channels, Lukashenko said he wouldn’t hesitate to use the nuclear weapons or join Russia’s war on Ukraine if there was “an aggression” against Belarus.

The announcement came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country would deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus in July. Lukashenko said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 Russian state TV channel that Belarus had already received missiles and bombs from Russia.

The move has raised concerns among some European countries, which are worried about the potential for nuclear weapons to be used in the region. Belarus borders Ukraine, and the deployment of nuclear weapons could increase tensions in the region.

The United Nations has called on both Russia and Belarus to refrain from any actions that could increase tensions in the region. It remains to be seen how the deployment of nuclear weapons will affect the security situation in the region.