nuclear-news

Russia moves ahead with deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

ABC 26 May 23

Russia has moved ahead with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, whose leader said the warheads were already on the move, in the Kremlin’s first deployment of such bombs outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

Key points:

• The plan for the nuclear deployment was announced by Mr Putin in March
• The US has warned that use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in the conflict would be met with “severe consequences”
• The US believes Russia has around 2,000 tactical nuclear warheads

The US State Department denounced the deployment plan but said Washington had no intention of altering its position on strategic nuclear weapons and had not seen any signs Russia was preparing to use a nuclear weapon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the United States and its allies are fighting an expanding proxy war against Russia after the Kremlin chief sent troops into Ukraine 15 months ago.

The plan for the nuclear deployment was announced by Mr Putin in an interview with state television on March 25.

“The collective West is essentially waging an undeclared war against our countries,” Mr Putin’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart in Minsk, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry……………………………………………………………….

Russia’s tactical nuclear weapons superiority

Tactical nuclear weapons are used for tactical gains on the battlefield, and are usually smaller in yield than the strategic nuclear weapons designed to destroy US or Russian cities.

Russia has a huge numerical superiority over the United States and the NATO military alliance when it comes to tactical nuclear weapons: the United States believes Russia has around 2,000 such working tactical warheads.

The United States has around 200 tactical nuclear weapons, half of which are at bases in Europe…………………………………….

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, signed by the Soviet Union, says that no nuclear power can transfer nuclear weapons or technology to a non-nuclear power, but it does allow for the weapons to be deployed outside its borders but under its control.  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-26/russia-moves-ahead-with-deployment-of-tactical-nuclear-weapons/102395632

May 28, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, weapons and war