Ukraine's military intelligence head Kyrylo Budanov said on June 20 that Russia hasn't yet delivered "a single nuclear warhead" from those tactical weapons to be stationed in Belarus.
According to Budanov, the preparation for "possible transfer" is ongoing, and storage facilities are being equipped.
Budanov's statement contradicts an earlier claim by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who said on June 16 that the first tactical nukes had allegedly arrived in Belarus. "This is the first part. But by the end of the summer, by the end of the year, we will complete this work," Putin claimed.
On June 13, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko also claimed that his country had already received the first weapons shipment from Russia, adding the bombs were "three times more powerful than those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin first signed an agreement on placing Russian non-strategic nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory on May 26. Shoigu reportedly said that control over the weaponry would remain with Moscow.
The West has largely criticized the agreement for violating the International Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as for escalating Russia's unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.
In March, after the Kremlin first announced its plan to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, the Pentagon said it didn't see any indications that Russia planned to use them.
However, U.S. President Joe Biden has recently said that the threat of Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is "real."
George E. Bogden
(Updated: )
