Putin says Russian tactical nuclear weapons will be deployed in Belarus next month

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Putin announced the planned deployment of short-range nuclear weapons to Belarus earlier this year in a move widely seen as a warning to the West as military support for Ukraine ramps up.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Moscow will deploy some of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus next month, in a move that comes as Ukraine launches its long-awaited counter-offensive.

Putin said during his meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that the work on building nuclear weapons facilities will end between July 7 and 8, and they will be transferred to the lands of its neighbor and ally Russia quickly after that.

Russia used the territory of Belarus to send its forces to Ukraine last February and kept forces and weapons on the territory of its ally.

“Everything is going as planned,” Putin said in televised remarks while hosting Lukashenko at his residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. “On July 7-8, preparations for the relevant facilities will be completed and we will immediately begin activities associated with the deployment of those weapons on your territory.”

Tactical nuclear weapons aim to destroy enemy forces and weapons on the battlefield. They have a relatively short range and are much less powerful than the nuclear warheads fitted to long-range strategic missiles capable of wiping out entire cities.

Russia did not say how many nuclear weapons would be sent to Belarus. The US government believes that Russia has about 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, including bombs that can be delivered by aircraft, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery rounds.

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