MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. The Russian-Belarusian nuclear drills showed that the countries have the ability to deploy nuclear weapons and that they have the resolve to defend the Union State with all available forces and means, State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council Alexander Volfovich told TASS.
"The exercise once again demonstrated to all our Western opponents and colleagues that Belarus does have nuclear weapons and, correspondingly, has an Oreshnik system on its territory. And in the course of these drills we demonstrated the ability to use these weapons and our states’ determination to defend our security, the security of the Union States above all, with all available forces and means," he said, adding that the exercise drew so much attention because it was steered by the heads of state.
"We don’t threaten anyone, this has been stated more than once by the Belarusian President [Alexander Lukashenko] and the Russian President [Vladimir Putin]," he said.
He drew attention to the accelerating military buildup in Poland and the Baltic countries. "Poland plans to increase its armed forces to 300,000 soldiers. This includes the corresponding types of weapons, military equipment, and aircraft. This is, of course, a massive undertaking, one that far exceeds the size of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus," he noted. "How can we defend our country? Only with the use of such weapons."
Nevertheless, he expressed hope that there would be no need to use such weapons. "I hope to God these weapons are never used. We remember the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. <…> But if they leave us no choice, these weapons will be used and, hopefully, will ensure our security and inflict unacceptable losses on the aggressor country," he stressed.
On May 18, the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense reported that military units had begun training in the combat use of nuclear weapons and nuclear support, involving missile forces and aircraft. The following day, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that on May 19-21, 2026, the Russian Armed Forces were conducting an exercise on the preparation and use of nuclear forces in the event of a threat of aggression. According to the ministry, as part of the nuclear drills, the Russian Armed Forces delivered ammunition to the field points of the missile brigade in Belarus.