Lukashenko: Russian nuclear-capable Oreshnik missiles now in Belarus

Belarus’ authoritarian president said Thursday that Russia had deployed its latest nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile system to the country, a move that comes as talks to end the war in Ukraine have entered a crucial phase.

President Alexander Lukashenko said the Oreshnik, an intermediate range ballistic missile system, arrived in the country on Wednesday and is entering combat duty. He didn’t say how many missiles have been deployed or give any other details.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that the Oreshnik will enter combat duty this month but didn’t give any other details. Putin made the statement at a meeting with top Russian military officers, where he warned that Moscow will seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands in peace talks.

U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end nearly four years of fighting following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Washington’s efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Russia previously has deployed tactical nuclear weapons to the territory of its Belarus, whose territory it used to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Lukashenko has earlier said that his country has several dozen Russian tactical nuclear weapons.

Russia first tested a conventionally armed version of the Oreshnik — Russian for hazelnut tree — to strike a Ukrainian factory in November 2024, and Putin has boasted that it’s impossible to intercept. He has warned the West that Russia could use it next against allies of Kyiv that allowed it to strike inside Russia with their longer-range missiles.

The Russian leader has bragged that Oreshnik’s multiple warheads plunge at speeds of up to Mach 10 and can’t be intercepted, and that several of them used in a conventional strike could be as devastating as a nuclear attack. Russian state media boasted that it would take the missile only 11 minutes to reach an air base in Poland and 17 minutes to reach NATO headquarters in Brussels. There’s no way to know whether it’s carrying a nuclear or a conventional warhead before it hits the target.

Intermediate-range missiles can fly between 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,400 miles). Such weapons were banned under a Soviet-era treaty that Washington and Moscow abandoned in 2019.

Putin and Lukashenko have previously said that the Oreshnik will be deployed to Belarus before the year’s end.

While signing a security pact with Lukashenko in December 2024, Putin said that even with Russia controlling the Oreshniks, Moscow would allow Minsk to select the targets. He noted that if the missiles are used against targets closer to Belarus, they could carry a significantly heavier payload.

In 2024, the Kremlin released a revised nuclear doctrine, noting that any nation’s conventional attack on Russia that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a joint attack on his country. The threat was clearly aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons and appears to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

The revised Russian doctrine also placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella.

Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades. His government has been repeatedly sanctioned by the West for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

While maintaining strong ties with Moscow, Lukashenko also has sought a rapprochement with the United States. On Saturday, Lukashenko freed 123 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, as part of a deal with Washington that lifted U.S. sanctions against the Belarusian potash industries, a key source of export earnings.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press on Thursday that the deployment of Oreshnik to Belarus deepens the country’s military and political dependence on Russia.

“The deployment of Oreshnik turns Belarus into a target and militarizes the country, and we stand categorically against it,” Tsikhanouskaya said. “Putin is using Lukashenko as a tool for the Kremlin’s games.”

白俄罗斯威权总统周四表示，俄罗斯已向该国部署了其最新的可携带核弹头的“奥列什尼克”导弹系统。此时，结束乌克兰战争的谈判已进入关键阶段。

俄罗斯总统亚历山大·卢卡申科表示，奥列什尼克中程弹道导弹系统已于周三抵达该国，并已投入作战部署。他没有透露已部署的导弹数量或其他任何细节。

俄罗斯总统普京周三表示，“奥列什尼克”自行高炮将于本月投入战斗任务，但他没有透露更多细节。普京是在与俄罗斯高级军官会晤时发表上述声明的。他在会上警告说，如果基辅及其西方盟友拒绝克里姆林宫在和平谈判中的要求，莫斯科将寻求扩大其在乌克兰取得的战果。

自俄罗斯于 2022 年 2 月全面入侵乌克兰以来，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普发起了一场广泛的外交努力，以结束近四年的冲突，但华盛顿的努力遭到了莫斯科和基辅的强烈反对。

俄罗斯此前曾在白俄罗斯领土上部署战术核武器，并于2022年2月利用白俄罗斯领土对乌克兰发动全面入侵。卢卡申科此前曾表示，他的国家拥有数十枚俄罗斯战术核武器。

俄罗斯于2024年11月首次测试了常规武装版的“奥列什尼克”（俄语意为“榛子树”）导弹，目标是乌克兰一家工厂。普京曾吹嘘这种导弹无法被拦截。他还警告西方，如果基辅的盟友允许俄罗斯使用远程导弹打击俄罗斯境内目标，俄罗斯下一步可能会用这种导弹攻击他们。

俄罗斯领导人吹嘘说，“奥列什尼克”导弹的多弹头以高达10马赫的速度俯冲而下，无法被拦截；他还声称，在一次常规打击中使用多枚这样的弹头，其破坏力堪比核打击。俄罗斯国家媒体宣称，这种导弹只需11分钟就能抵达波兰的一个空军基地，17分钟就能抵达位于布鲁塞尔的北约总部。在导弹击中目标之前，根本无法确定它携带的是核弹头还是常规弹头。

中程导弹的射程在500至5500公里（310至3400英里）之间。这类武器曾被苏联时期的一项条约禁止，但华盛顿和莫斯科已于2019年退出该条约。

普京和卢卡申科此前曾表示，“奥列什尼克”反坦克导弹系统将在年底前部署到白俄罗斯。

2024年12月，普京在与卢卡申科签署安全协议时表示，即使俄罗斯控制了“奥列什尼克”导弹系统，莫斯科也会允许明斯克选择打击目标。他还指出，如果这些导弹用于攻击距离白俄罗斯更近的目标，它们可以携带更重的有效载荷。

2024年，克里姆林宫发布了修订后的核战略，指出任何国家对俄罗斯发动的、得到核大国支持的常规攻击都将被视为对俄罗斯的联合攻击。这一威胁显然旨在阻止西方允许乌克兰使用远程武器打击俄罗斯，并且似乎大幅降低了俄罗斯动用核武库的门槛。

修订后的俄罗斯核战略还将白俄罗斯置于俄罗斯的核保护伞之下。

卢卡申科以铁腕统治这个拥有950万人口的国家超过三十年。他的政府因镇压人权以及允许莫斯科在2022年入侵乌克兰期间利用其领土，屡次受到西方制裁。

卢卡申科在与莫斯科保持密切关系的同时，也寻求与美国和解。周六，卢卡申科释放了123名政治犯，其中包括诺贝尔和平奖得主阿列斯·比亚利亚茨基。作为与华盛顿达成协议的一部分，该协议解除了美国对白俄罗斯钾肥行业的制裁，而钾肥行业是白俄罗斯重要的出口收入来源。

白俄罗斯反对派领导人斯维特兰娜·季哈诺夫斯卡娅周四告诉美联社，向白俄罗斯部署“奥列什尼克”加深了该国在军事和政治上对俄罗斯的依赖。

“奥列什尼克的部署使白俄罗斯成为攻击目标，并使该国军事化，我们坚决反对，”季哈诺夫斯卡娅说。“普京正在利用卢卡申科作为克里姆林宫博弈的工具。”