MINSK, December 6. /TASS/. Russia's Oreshnik missile system may be deployed in Belarus in the second half of 2025, President Vladimir Putin has said.
"As far the possibility of deploying such, let's say, formidable weapons as the Oreshnik in Belarus is concerned, since we have signed today an agreement on security guarantees with the use of all available forces and means, I consider the deployment of such systems as the Oreshnik in Belarus possible," Putin said after a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State.
He added that this would become possible in the second half of next year as the serial production of these systems in Russia increased and the missile systems entered service with the Russian strategic missile forces.
Putin warned of the need for addressing some technicalities before the deployment of the Oreshnik system in Belarus.
"Of course, there are a number of technical issues here for the specialists to address, namely, the determination of the minimum range with due regard for the security priorities of Belarus," he said. "It takes specialists to look into this matter."
The Russian president remarked that deploying the Oreshnik in Belarus would not require heavy spending.
"I reckon that there are such opportunities (for the deployment of the Oreshnik in Belarus - TASS) in the light of the fact that it will also require minimal costs. Belarus has retained certain infrastructural capabilities, inherited from the Soviet era, so the placement of such systems in Belarus will involve minimal spending to have infrastructure up and running," Putin explained.
"Of course, despite the fact that they (Oreshnik systems - TASS) will be part and parcel of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, nevertheless, the selection of targets on the territory of a probable enemy will certainly be a prerogative of the military and political leadership of Belarus. We will discuss everything in the working mode," Putin promised.
"For now, I can only say - the experts understand it well: the shorter the range, the greater the strike power of the warhead," he stated. "We will discuss the technicalities later."
Distinctive features
Putin earlier cited some technical aspects as he compared the Oreshnik and nuclear weapons: "Of course, such cutting-edge systems as the Oreshnik have no analogues in the world. In the case of group use, they are similar in effects to nuclear weapons, but they are not a weapon of mass destruction."
He underscored two distinctive features of the Oreshnik.
"First, unlike weapons of mass destruction, it is a high accuracy weapon, it does not hit large areas and achieves results not due to its power, but due to accuracy. Second, in the case of group use of one, two, or three systems its effects are akin to those of nuclear weapons, but they do not contaminate the terrain or entail any radiation consequences. There are no nuclear components in the warhead of these missiles."
On November 21, Putin made a statement to declare that in response to the use of Western long-range weapons against Russia the newest non-nuclear Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missiles launched for the first time against Ukraine's defense industry facility, the Yuzhmash plant.