Russia to deploy Oreshnik missile systems to Belarus by end of 2025, official says
Moscow is planning to deploy multiple Oreshnik missile systems to Belarus by the end of 2025, State Secretary of Belarus' Security Council Alexander Volfovich said on May 28.
The "Oreshnik" is an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that Russia touts as an experimental weapon capable of bypassing advanced air defense systems.
In December 2024, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko requested Moscow deploy 10 Russian Oreshnik missile systems in Belarus, pro-Kremlin journalist Alexander Yunashev reported on his Telegram channel.
"The locations for its deployment have already been determined," Volfovich said, without specifying how many missile systems would be deployed.
The Kyiv Independent cannot verify claims made by Belarusian officials.
On Nov. 21, 2024, Russia launched an Oreshnik missile against the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The Oreshnik missile is designed to carry nuclear weapons, however, the missile was not armed with a nuclear warhead during the attack.
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.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed Russia has begun mass production of the Oreshnik, a U.S. official told The Kyiv Independent that Moscow likely possesses "only a handful" of these experimental missiles.
Belarus has been a key ally to Moscow and has previously been reported as hosting Russian tactical nuclear arms on its territory, after the two countries signed an agreement in May 2023.
Lukashenko said in December 2023 that the transfer of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus was completed in early October.
Despite the claims, Ukrainian foreign intelligence chief Oleh Ivashchenko said in an interview with Ukrinform published on May 26 that Belarus possesses nuclear weapon delivery systems but no warheads.
Yuliia Taradiuk
