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Russia has struck a deal with Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory but will not violate non-proliferation agreements, Vladimir Putin has said.The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, had long raised the issue of stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which borders Poland, Putin told state television.“There is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades,” he said. “They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries. A video grab from footage released by the Russian defence ministry last month apparently shows Russian forces in a drill...

Russia has struck a deal with neighbouring Belarus to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory but will not violate non-proliferation agreements, President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had long raised the issue of stationing tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, which borders Poland, Putin told state television. "There is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries," he said. "We agreed that we will do the same - without violating our obligations, I emphasize, without...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish authorities said Thursday that the nation’s security services have detained members of a Russian espionage ring, alleging that they were preparing acts of sabotage in Poland and had been monitoring railroad routes used for the transport of weapons into Ukraine. Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński said the Internal Security Agency had arrested nine people suspected of spying for Russia in the case. Three were detained on Wednesday. He said at a news conference in Warsaw that the suspects were preparing “sabotage actions aimed at paralyzing the supply of equipment, weapons and aid to Ukraine.” He said...

A Russian plot to sabotage Poland's train lines in a bid to stop the country delivering arms to Ukraine has been uncovered, with six suspected foreign agents arrested. According to news outlet RMF FM, the 'foreigners from across our eastern border' were detained by Poland's Internal Security Agency 'on suspicion of working on behalf of the Russian special services'. The six agents - who are thought to be from Belarus - were seized after intelligence officers from Poland’s ABW found hidden cameras recording important railway routes for transferring weapons and ammo to Ukraine. They are suspected of trying to sabotage...

In the near future, Russia is planning a large-scale provocation on the Ukraine–Belarus border. Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov was instructed to cover it. "Information has been received that the Russian military-political command is planning a large-scale provocation on the Ukraine–Belarus border in the near future. To cover the provocation in detail, main Russian propagandist, Vladimir Solovyov is expected to arrive in Belarus. On March 11, it is planned to organize a tele- and radio conference and a live broadcast at the scene for Russian propaganda media," the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense posted on Telegram. According...

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko will pay an official visit to Iran on 12-13 March, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian leader. In Tehran, the Belarusian head of state is expected to hold talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. During a meeting on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand on 16 September 2022, the leaders of the two countries instructed the foreign ministries to take stock of relations and to intensify them. The talks in Tehran will focus on the development of cooperation across the entire spectrum of bilateral relations with an emphasis on trade and...

Belarus’s authoritarian president has signed a bill introducing capital punishment for state officials and military personnel convicted of high treason. The amendments to the country’s criminal code endorsed by President Alexander Lukashenko envisage death sentences for officials and service personnel who cause “irreparable damage” to Belarus’s national security through acts of treason. Belarus is the only country in Europe that has not banned capital punishment, which has been applied to those convicted of murder or terrorism. Executions are carried out with a shot to the back of the head. Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for nearly three...

After Russia invaded Ukraine, guerrillas from Belarus began carrying out acts of sabotage on their country’s railways, including blowing up track equipment to paralyze the rails that Russian forces used to get troops and weapons into Ukraine. In the most recent sabotage to make international headlines, they attacked a Russian warplane parked just outside the Belarusian capital. “Belarusians will not allow the Russians to freely use our territory for the war with Ukraine, and we want to force them to leave,” Anton, a retired Belarusian serviceman who joined a group of saboteurs, told The Associated Press in a phone interview....

Poland's Foreign Ministry on February 28 condemned what it called "the destruction of Polish cultural heritage in Belarus by the Lukashenka regime," after a mural inside a Catholic church in western Belarus was painted over by the authorities. Pictures released online showed the large mural inside Soly's Catholic church being covered up by unidentified workers on February 25. The mural depicted Poland's military victory over invading Soviet forces in 1920. (snip) In late 2022, a report on Belarus's state-funded media singled out the mural in the Soly church, accusing it of "inciting national and religious hatred." The report also claimed...

A key autocratic ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in China for a state visit on Tuesday, amid warnings from United States officials that Beijing may be considering aiding Moscow in its ongoing assault on Ukraine. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will stay in China until Thursday and meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss a range of issues from trade and investment to “acute international challenges,” Belarus’ state news agency Belta reported Tuesday after confirming the leader’s arrival. His trip comes after the two leaders agreed to upgrade their countries’ ties to an “all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership” during...

Belarus partisans said they blew up a Russian A-50 surveillance military aircraft The two Belarusians who carried out operation had used drones, it was claimed Belarusian partisans and members of the country's exiled opposition said they damaged Vladimir Putin's A-50U surveillance military aircraft in a secret mission. Two participants had used drones and had already left the country, claimed Franak Viacorka, a close adviser of opposition figurehead Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Front and central parts of the AWACS Beriev A-50U aircraft as well as the radar antenna were damaged from two explosions at the Machulishchy air base near Minsk, Belarusian anti-government organisation...

Belarusian anti-government activists have claimed responsibility for what they said was a drone attack on a Russian A-50 surveillance aircraft at an airfield near the Belarus capital of Minsk on Sunday. "Those were drones. The participants of the operation are Belarusian," Aliaksandr Azarov, leader of Belarusian anti-government organization BYPOL, was quoted as saying on the organisation's Telegram messaging app and on the Poland-based Belsat news channel. "They are now safe, outside the country."

This morning explosions have occurred near the Machulishchy air base in Belarus. As a result, Russia’s A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft might have been hit.

The leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has long tried to have it both ways. He has worked to gain the approval and support of Russian President Vladimir Putin while also trying to remain independent from Russia, and maintain ties with the Western world. It’s a delicate balancing act, and in the last few weeks, his ability to keep it up—and keep Putin at bay—seems to have all but disappeared, Lukashenko watchers and former diplomats tell The Daily Beast. “He seems to think he has the option to cozy up to the West again, like he did in 2014. That option...

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will visit China on February 28 for a state visit, the Chinese foreign ministry said Saturday. Lukashenko is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has backed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, with Belarus dependent on its neighbour both financially and politically. "At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will pay a state visit to China from February 28 to March 2," spokesperson Hua Chunying said. Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang told his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik that Beijing is willing to work with Minsk to deepen mutual political...

Belarus is in the process of readying missiles for combat as the war in Ukraine enters its second year. In a Telegram post on Friday, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus shared a video of several vehicles transporting missiles and wrote that "as part of combat readiness measures, one of the missile units is moving to the designated area." Friday marked the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, after President Vladimir Putin announced the "special military operation" on this day last year. Since the start of the war, Russian troops have been stationed in Belarus, which...

On 23 February, Israel joined 140 other UN member states voting in favor of a nonbinding resolution that calls for Russia to end hostilities in Ukraine and withdraw its forces.“For the past year, Israel has stood alongside the people of Ukraine in solidarity both on the ground and here in the UN,” Tel Aviv’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan said following the vote. The resolution, drafted by Ukraine in consultation with its western allies, passed 141-7, with 32 abstentions. Belarus, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea, and Mali were the only member states to vote against the resolution.Israel’s condemnation of Russia’s...

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that the only way for Moscow to ensure a lasting peace with Ukraine was to push back the borders of hostile states as far as possible, even if that meant the frontiers of NATO member Poland.

Russia is planning to launch "false flag" attacks to drag Belarus into the Ukraine war and "undermine" the government of Moldova, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). An ISW report published on Thursday, the eve of the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine, asserts that Russian President Vladimir Putin's government is "setting conditions" to attack Belarus and make it appear as though the attack was launched by Ukraine. According to the U.S.-based think tank, the false flag operation could force Belarus into the war, while also diverting Ukrainian forces away from the Donetsk region, where...

Michael Weiss and Holger Roonemaa Mon, February 20, 2023 at 5:00 PM CST A leaked internal strategy document from Vladimir Putin’s executive office and obtained by Yahoo News lays out a detailed plan on how Russia plans to take full control over neighboring Belarus in the next decade under the pretext of a merger between the two countries. The document outlines in granular detail a creeping annexation by political, economic and military means of an independent but illiberal European nation by Russia, which is an active state of war in its bid to conquer Ukraine through overwhelming force. “Russia’s goals...