OSIPOVICHI /Mogilev Region/, July 7. /TASS/. Belarusian authorities do not plan to disclose where tactical nuclear munitions are stored, says Major General Leonid Kasinsky, aide to Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin.
He made this remark, commenting on the CIA’s claim that the nuclear weapons are being stored near the city of Osipovichi, in the Mogilev Region.
"You do realize that no one will ever tell you the location. What the CIA believes is their business," the Major General told reporters Friday.
Kasinsky noted President Alexander Lukashenko’s remarks, who said during a July 6 meeting with reporters that Western intelligence agencies failed to track the relocation of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to the republic.
"As a military person, I will never tell you where it was relocated to or when it was relocated," he said.
"I will tell you only one thing: do not make the tactical nuclear weapons a horror story for the entire world. President [Lukashenko] clearly defined that this weapon, horrific in its destructive capabilities, could be used only in case of an aggressive act against the Republic of Belarus. […] This weapon could be used in case of NATO aggression against the Republic of Belarus, if we see that there is a threat to the existence of the state as such," Kasinsky specified.
On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia, at Minsk’s request, would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil, precisely the way the US has deployed elements of its own nuclear arsenal on the territory of its allies. Moscow has already transferred the nuclear-capable Iskander system to Minsk and is helping its Belarusian colleagues to re-equip their aircraft accordingly. Belarusian missile troops and pilots underwent relevant training in Russia.
On June 16, Putin said that the first Russian nuclear warheads had already been delivered to Belarus and the entire batch would be deployed by the end of the year. On June 23, Lukashenko said that a significant part of the warheads planned to be delivered had already arrived in the republic.