Russian officials reveal Oreshnik is about to be deployed in Belarus.
According to TASS news agency on February 4th, Alexey Polishchuk, Director of the Second Department for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated in an interview that Russia's Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile system will be deployed in Belarus in accordance with a prior agreement between the presidents of the two countries.
"Russia, in accordance with its Union obligations, as enshrined in the Union State Security Concept and the 2024 bilateral intergovernmental Security Guarantee Agreement, is ready to provide Minsk with the necessary support and take measures to protect the common defense space," he said.
Mr. Polishchuk emphasized that, in this context and according to the agreement between the presidents of the two countries, "Russian Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missiles will also be deployed in Belarus."
In late January, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that Russia's Oreshnik hypersonic missile system would be deployed in the country "at any time." According to Lukashenko, these missiles could be placed in the area near the city of Smolensk.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on November 21, 2024, that the US and its NATO allies had previously stated they would allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons to attack inside Russian territory. Subsequently, US and British missiles targeted Russian military facilities in the Kursk and Bryansk regions.
Putin stated that Russia responded to those attacks by launching its newest Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile, carrying a non-nuclear warhead, at a Ukrainian defense industrial facility – the Yuzhmash plant in the Dnepr (formerly Dnepropetrovsk). The Russian leader emphasized that provocative Western policies could lead to serious consequences if the conflict continues to escalate.
For his part, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated after a meeting of the Supreme Council of the Union State in Minsk on December 6, 2024, that he had requested President Putin to deploy Oreshnik missiles on Belarusian territory.
The Russian president stated that the delivery of these missiles could take place in the second half of 2025. Lukashenko later revealed that Belarus has approximately 30 sites that could be used to deploy the Oreshnik missiles.
