Belarusian military officers have begun training in Russia in the use of “tactical” nuclear weapons, Moscow and Minsk said today, as the Kremlin recently announced the deployment of such weapons to Belarus.

“An operational Iskander-M tactical missile system was delivered to the Belarusian armed forces. It can use conventional missiles, but also nuclear ones,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

Shoigu: “Several of Belarus ground attack aircraft received the ability to strike at enemy targets with nuclear weapons.

Besides, Iskander-M operational tactical missile system was handed over to the armed forces of Belarus. It can use both conventional and nuclear missiles” pic.twitter.com/DyuojPsSYT

— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) April 4, 2023

“Since April 3, Belarusian personnel is being trained in the use of (…) at a Russian training center,” he added during a meeting.

“The personnel of these units will study in detail the issues related to the context of use and the use of tactical nuclear munitions,” the Belarusian Defence Ministry said in a statement.

“Belarusian servicemen will attend a full cycle of training at a training center of the Russian armed forces,” the ministry announced, without specifying how long the training would last.

On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would “regularly” deploy nuclear weapons to Belarus, its ally in the conflict in Ukraine, causing concern in Kiev and the West.

According to Putin, ten planes have already been equipped in Belarus for the use of such tactical nuclear weapons, and a special warehouse will be completed by July 1.

So-called “tactical” nuclear weapons can cause enormous damage, but their destructive radius is more limited than that of “strategic” nuclear weapons.

Last week, however, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he was ready to welcome Russian “strategic” nuclear weapons on his soil, in addition to “tactical” nuclear weapons.

Russian officials have repeatedly made thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine should the conflict escalate significantly.