2023-05-25 22:43:57
The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenkoannounced on Thursday the beginning of the transfer of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to his countrywhich shares a border with Ukraine, while the Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Group began their withdrawal from the eastern city of Bakhmutafter announcing his capture last Saturday.
nuclear weapons
“I am not going to reveal the number and its location. We agreed on the deployment of nuclear weapons: where, when, the warheads. A decision had to be made and this corresponds to the Russian president. With Russia, any issue that we present today is decided in question in a few days,” said Lukashenko, who was in Moscow to participate in the Eurasian Economic Union summit, and guaranteed the safety of said weapons, stressing that Belarusians are “careful people.”
The head of state also mentioned that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, informed him that he had signed the corresponding decree, after which The defense ministers of both countries, Sergei Shoigu and Víktor Khrenin, signed today in Minsk a series of documents that regulate the storage of these weapons in Belarusian territory.
The two countries justify this step with the “extremely aggressive policy” of the NATO countries along their borders.. “In the context of an extremely strong escalation of threats and the activity of NATO joint nuclear missions, we are obliged to take retaliatory measures in the military-nuclear sphere,” stressed Russian Minister Shoigu. “Russia does not transfer nuclear weapons to the Republic of Belarus: control over them and the decision to use them remains with the Russian side,” he stressed.
Last March, the head of the Kremlin announced an agreement with his Belarusian counterpart for the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in the neighboring country. In April, the Belarusian Army received training in Russia on the use of special munitions for Iskander-M missiles and completed training to operate Su-25 attack aircraft, which were equipped to carry tactical nuclear weapons.
Criticism of the announcement
The White House He called the transfer of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus “irresponsible” but said they see no indication that Russia is preparing to use them. “We did not see any reason to adjust our nuclear posture,” government spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said during a press conference. She in turn assured that the United States will continue to monitor the situation and stressed that the country remains committed to the defense of NATO.
The European Commission He also questioned the announcement: “This is not a step towards de-escalation, it is a step that only increases the tension that can be framed in the context of the illegal aggression of Russia and the cooperation of Belarus”, remarked the foreign spokesman of the Community Executive , Peter Stano.
The Belarusian opposition in exile, Svetlana Tijanóvskaya, denounced that these actions represent a threat to the entire European continent. “This not only endangers the lives of Belarusians, but also creates a threat for Ukraine, for all of Europe,” Tijanóvskaya explained from her Twitter account. “It will make Belarusians hostage to Russian imperial ambitions,” she added.
the withdrawal
Lukashenko’s announcement coincided with the beginning of the withdrawal of mercenaries from the Wagner Group from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.. “We withdrew the Bakhmut units. Until June 1, most of them will settle in camps in the rear,” the head of the Wagnerites, Yegueni Prigozhin, said Thursday in a video allegedly recorded among the ruins of the city. And he added: “We hand over everything to the military: positions, ammunition and even food rations.”
Prigozhin did not waste the opportunity to lash out at the Russian military leadership, which he has criticized and even insulted in recent months, saying he was leaving two of his men behind in case the military needs help defending Bakhmut. The withdrawal follows an incursion by fighters from Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday into the Russian border region of Belgorod, which Moscow took more than 24 hours to repel, once again highlighting the plight of Russian forces.
For the capture of the city, for which they needed nine and a half months, the mercenaries paid a high price: 16,000 dead, 10,000 of them convicts recruited from Russian prisons.as admitted by the also known as Putin’s “chef” in an interview published on Wednesday.
prisoner exchange
For his part, Ukrainian authorities reported the release of 106 Ukrainian soldiers who had been taken prisoner in Bakhmut in a swap operation. “Among those returning from captivity there are some who have been reported missing,” said the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak.
Officially, the Russian side did not confirm the exchange, of which a video recorded from a drone was published on social networks in which an exchange of prisoners can be seen on a road where there are several armored vehicles from both parties with large white flags.
The adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office, Mijailo Podolyak, affirmed that the counteroffensive is already underway and that this type of operation does not begin with a concrete action. “It is not a ‘single event’ that begins at a specific time on a specific day with an act of cutting a ribbon,” Podolyak explained on his Twitter account in the face of repeated speculation about when Ukraine will launch its next operation to recover the territory occupied by Russia.
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