The Belarusian troops have returned from exercises in the Russian Federation, where they underwent theoretical and practical training to use the Iskander-M ballistic missile system.

The Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus reported on this.

Training started in early April. It was stated that the Belarusian military would complete a full cycle of training, with the main emphasis on “improving practical skills in preparing the missile system for use, training in its deployment, and conducting training and combat launches.”

The Belarusian also studied the “maintenance and use of tactical nuclear munitions of the Iskander-M ballistic missile systems.”

In addition, a propaganda video explaining the necessity of deploying nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus was released.

The story of the Belarusian VoyenTV explained that the presence of such weapons is a deterrent to prevent an attack on Belarus.

The reason is an increase in Poland’s defense spending and the “expansion of NATO”.

The video also notes that Belarus, together with its strategic ally Russia, “cannot fail to respond to such an increase in militarism near the borders of the union state.”

“The Republic of Belarus was one of the first to refuse and remove nuclear weapons. We were promised guarantees that there would be no forceful opposition or confrontation applied to our state. There will be no economic pressure and no attacks on the independence of our country. All this was enshrined in the Budapest Memorandum. We can no longer believe any statements made by Western politicians. We clearly understand that in this situation, we will respond to the threat of using force only with force,” said Viktor Khrenin, Minister of Defense of Belarus.

The video also demonstrated aviation equipment that can use tactical nuclear weapons, namely the re-equipped Su-25 jet aircraft. The pilots also underwent appropriate training in Russia.

In addition, Belarus declares that it is preparing to deploy strategic missile systems on its territory.

It was shown that the Belarusian military conducts seasonal works to improve facilities where units of the strategic missile forces were previously based.

In this way, they wish to preserve the infrastructure left over from Soviet times.

“If necessary, they can be prepared for use,” said the unit commander.

It is worth noting that the mentioned Budapest Memorandum was signed by Ukraine, Russia, the USA, and the UK on December 5, 1994. Its full title is the “Memorandum on Security Assurances in Connection with Ukraine’s Accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons”.

At the same time, in May 1992, Belarus participated in the signing of the Lisbon Protocol.

This is a protocol to the Treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Weapons. Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, and the USA also signed it.
This was the beginning of the process of nuclear disarmament of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.

On November 27, 1996, the last echelon of RS-12M Topol intercontinental ballistic missiles was sent to Russia from the approach tracks of the railway station near the village of Yatsuki in the Grodno region of Belarus.