MINSK, 12 December (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has given instructions to ensure the deployment of Russian missile systems Oreshnik [hazel wood] in the country’s territory and properly plan how to use them, BelTA learned from Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, First Deputy Defense Minister of Belarus Pavel Muraveiko after a session of the Security Council hosted by the head of state on 12 December.
Reporters wondered whether the delivery of modern Russian missile systems Oreshnik to Belarus had been discussed during the session and whether the head of state had given any additional instructions concerning the weapon.
“There was one instruction: to ensure the deployment of Oreshnik missiles in our territory and properly plan their uses,” Pavel Muraveiko said.
Asked to clarify how many Oreshnik missile systems are supposed to be deployed in Belarus, the General Staff chief noted: “Only the president of Russia knows it.”
Speaking about the situation around Belarus as a whole, Pavel Muraveiko stressed that it cannot be described as calm. It is exacerbated by the continued militarization of neighboring countries, events going on in Ukraine, and an information campaign launched against Belarus with a view to discrediting the authorities and the country’s leadership in order to enable conditions conducive to various conflicts.
BelTA reported earlier that at a session of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Belarus and Russia held in Minsk on 6 December Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko and President of Russia Vladimir Putin agreed that Russia will supply contemporary missile systems Oreshnik to Belarus. The Belarusian leader approached the Russian head of state with this request and the Russian president granted it. “I would like to publicly ask you to have new weapon systems and primarily Oreshnik systems deployed in Belarus’ territory. It would have a serious calming effect on certain minds, who are already ready to fight against Belarus,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said back then.
“We have certain locations where we can deploy these weapons. On one condition: targets for these weapons will be selected by Belarus’ military and political leadership. And for now you will teach us how to use these weapons if they are deployed. Specialists from the Russian Federation should fire Oreshnik military payloads at certain targets. You know how to do it. You’ve demonstrated it recently,” the Belarusian leader stressed.
During a working trip to Borisov, Minsk Oblast on 10 December the head of state explained where Oreshnik missile systems are supposed to be deployed: “We are now thinking about where we can deploy these weapons. We have preserved the launch sites previously used by strategic nuclear missiles.”
“We have about 30 sites like that. We will choose appropriate ones because we need to consider the minimal distance to the target. We will deploy them and select targets. As you may have noticed, I had only one condition for Putin: Belarus will determine the targets, not Russia. But Russians will help us use the weapons. In other words, we will press the button together if necessary, god forbid. But we will be the ones to choose the targets. He agreed,” the president added.
Aleksandr Lukashenko stated that the decision to deploy Oreshnik missiles in Belarus had stirred up the entire world for a reason. “Why are they alarmed? I told him [president of Russia]: Why do we have to worry? Americans together with Germans have said that tomorrow they will deploy medium-range missiles in Europe. Those are not Oreshnik missiles but they are medium-range. We take steps in response,” he said.
The president said he expects the deployment of Oreshnik missile systems to provide a deterring effect just like the tactical nuclear weapons that had also been deployed in Belarus. While the use of the nuclear weapons comes with great responsibility, the Oreshnik missile systems represent a conventional weapon although they are very powerful.
“If we have powerful conventional weapons, then Poles, who are busy buying tanks, some APCs and missiles from Korea to America, will have to think hard before invading our country. Because the response will be serious. And indeed there is no antidote to this weapon. It is impossible to intercept, shoot down, and so on,” the president stated.
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