Lukashenko
© Gavriil Grigorov/SputnikBelarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
Belarus expects the arrival of the Russian advanced intermediate-range ballistic missile system Oreshnik shortly, President Alexander Lukashenko has said, adding that it will be stationed not far from the two countries' border. Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, when Belarus is holding its presidential election, Lukashenko said that the weapon would be deployed "closer to Smolensk," the Russian city located some 60km east from the Belarusian border. He didn't rule out, however, that it could be placed somewhere else later.
"We will have the Oreshnik literally any day now. We have agreed with President Vladimir Putin that the next system will be delivered to Belarus even earlier than to Russia."
When asked to corroborate later in the conference on the delivery timeline, he acknowledged that no exact dates have been agreed yet. He went on to say the choice for the deployment location was based on the technical specifications of the Oreshnik.
"It's bad when your targets are very close. But even when they are very far away, they [missiles] can carry a smaller load."
He recalled that while he initially said that Belarus wanted to host at least ten Oreshnik missile systems, he acknowledged that a transfer of this size would be extremely difficult for economic reasons, especially given that Russia also needs to deploy the Oreshnik. "One Oreshnik is enough to protect Belarus," he added.

The Oreshnik missile, which can carry multiple warheads, including nuclear ones, made its battlefield debut in November, when it struck Ukraine's Yuzhmash military industrial facility in the city of Dnepr.

Commenting on the attack, Putin said Oreshnik warheads travel at ten times the speed of sound and cannot be intercepted by any existing air defenses.

The weapon, which had previously been held in complete secrecy, was deployed in response to Ukrainian strikes deep inside Russia using foreign-made long-range weapons, a step Moscow had repeatedly strongly warned against. In late December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Oreshnik strike was also a response to the US deployment of mid-range rockets to Europe.

In 2023, Russia also stationed nuclear tactical weapons in Belarus after a request by Lukashenko, who voiced concerns about a similar arsenal being placed in several European NATO nations.