Ipatau: nuclear weapons and “Oreshnik” in Belarus are a response to growing military threats

Vadzim Ipatau said on October 15 that Belarus is forced to take countermeasures against growing military threats, and named among them the deployment on its territory of Russian tactical nuclear weapons and the “Oreshnik” missile system. According to him, these measures ensure the security of the “western outpost of the CSTO”.

The remarks were made in Minsk, where a meeting was held with members of the Coordination Meeting of Chairs of the Defence and Security Committees of the parliaments of CSTO member states, under the Council of the organisation's Parliamentary Assembly. According to Belarusian media reports, Ipatau told CSTO parliamentarians that, in the face of external threats to national security, Belarus is strengthening its defence capability.

According to Telegram channels, Alyaksandr Lukashenka put it differently: he himself asked for the new type of weapon to be supplied to the country, Vladimir Putin agreed, and “the first samples are already in Belarus”.

Ipatau formulated the position this way: “Belarus is the CSTO's outpost in the western direction, and the deployment of the 'Oreshnik' system on its territory is regarded as a response to growing military threats.” This is the assessment of a Belarusian lawmaker, and his statement gives no specifics about which threats exactly he has in mind.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry set out the same line in February 2026: according to its statement, the deployment of the Russian “Oreshnik” is purely defensive in nature. Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhankou said on September 26 that Minsk had already deployed the system on the country's territory.

Information about the deployment of “Oreshnik” and tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus comes from official statements. Defence Minister Viktar Khrenin, however, has said that Belarus is preparing to receive the Russian “Oreshnik” missile system. The wordings “preparing to receive” and “already deployed” diverge, and the statements provided do not explain the discrepancy.

It is not yet known when the official deployment of “Oreshnik” systems at military bases will begin.

In July 2025, Pavel Muraveika, Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces, reported that all logistical and organisational issues regarding the creation of units with “Oreshnik” had been settled. In December 2025, Lukashenka stated that no more than ten Russian “Oreshnik” systems would be deployed in the republic.