Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko plans to deploy 10 Russian Oreshnik missile systems in Belarus, pro-Kremlin journalist Alexander Yunashev reported on his Telegram channel Yunashev Live on Dec. 26.
The "Oreshnik" is an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that Russia touts as an experimental weapon capable of bypassing advanced air defense systems.
Answering Yunashev's question during the Eurasian Economic Union summit, Lukashenko said he expects 10 missile systems from Russia.
"If the Russians want to deploy more, we will deploy more," he added.
Lukashenko previously asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to deploy Oreshnik missile systems in Belarus during the signing ceremony of new agreements between Russia and Belarus in early December.
Putin responded that such a deployment was "possible" and said the missiles could be supplied to Belarus by the second half of 2025.
The Oreshnik is likely not a new Russian development at all, Fabian Hoffmann, a defense expert and doctoral research fellow at the University of Oslo, told the Kyiv Independent. The weapon appears to be a modification of the RS-26 missile, also known as the Rubezh.
"I think basically they (Russians) just took apart the RS-26 or just cannibalized it and then put together this new missile with a couple of upgrades and a new paint job," Hoffman said.
First produced in 2011, and successfully tested in 2012, the Rubezh is a 36,000 kilogram, nuclear-capable, intermediate-range ballistic missile with a known range of 5,800 kilometers.
While Putin has claimed that Russia is planning mass production of the Oreshnik, a U.S. official told The Kyiv Independent that Moscow likely possesses "only a handful" of these experimental missiles.
Russia launched the Oreshnik missile against Ukraine following Kyiv's first successful use of U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles on a military target in Russia. Moscow later acknowledged additional ATACMS strikes on targets in Kursk and Bryansk oblasts.
Chris York
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