Putin Says Will Deploy Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on metals industries via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on metals industries via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (AP)
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Putin Says Will Deploy Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on metals industries via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on metals industries via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. (AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighbor and ally Belarus, bringing the arms to a country at the gates of the European Union.

Putin has previously issued thinly veiled warnings that he could use nuclear weapons in Ukraine if Russia were threatened, reviving Cold War-era fears, AFP said.

He also said he would deploy depleted uranium ammunition if Kyiv received the controversial weaponry from the West, following a British suggestion that it could supply Ukraine.

Putin said the move to deploy tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus was "nothing unusual."

"The United States has been doing this for decades. They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies," Putin said.

Putin said he spoke to Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko and said "we agreed to do the same."

He added that Russia had helped equip Belarusian planes "without violating our international agreements on nuclear-non-proliferation... 10 planes are ready for this type of weapon to be used."

Russia has given Belarus an Iskander system that can carry nuclear weapons, Putin also said.

It will start training crews on April 3 and plans to finish the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons by July 1.

- 'Most harmful' -

Putin also said that Russia would respond if the West supplied Ukraine with depleted uranium ammunition.

"Russia of course has what it needs to answer. Without exaggeration, we have hundreds of thousands of such shells. We have not used them yet," Putin added in an interview on Russian television.

He said the weapons "can be classified as the most harmful and hazardous for humans... and also for the environment."

Depleted uranium munitions are highly effective at piercing armor plate, but their use is controversial.

The metal is toxic for the soldiers who use the weapons and for civilians in areas where they are fired.

Putin has previously said nuclear tensions were "rising" globally but said Moscow would not deploy first.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has warned nuclear threats were creating a dangerous sense of uncertainty around their possible use.

The longer Russia's operation in Ukraine grinds on, the greater the nuclear strike risk, ICAN warned last month ahead of the offensive's first anniversary.

- Nuclear threat -

Putin announced last month that Moscow would suspend its participation in New START, the last remaining arms control treaty between the world's two main nuclear powers, Russia and the United States.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg slammed Russia for suspending the nuclear weapons limitation treaty with the US, saying it marked the end of Europe's post-Cold War arms control architecture.

The announcement came after Moscow last August suspended US inspections of its military sites under New START.

US officials have voiced fears that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it feels routed on the battlefield and could plant a fictitious story to justify its actions.

Russia has already spoken of supposed Ukrainian attempts to detonate a "dirty bomb," drawing strong denials from Ukraine and a sharp rebuke from the United States, which had rare direct communication with Moscow to warn against nuclear use.

Neither the United States nor Russia -- by far the largest nuclear weapons powers -- officially has a policy of no first use of the ultra-destructive arms.

Russian officials have repeated that Russia would only use nuclear weapons if it was facing an "existential threat" -- but the definition of such a threat remains vague.

A recent US posture review by President Joe Biden concluded that nuclear weapons should only be used in "extreme circumstances."



New Orleans Attack Suspect Acted Alone, Supported ISIS, FBI Says

Louisiana National Guard stands guard at a gated off area of the French Quarter near the scene of the car ramming on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 02 January 2025. (EPA)
Louisiana National Guard stands guard at a gated off area of the French Quarter near the scene of the car ramming on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 02 January 2025. (EPA)
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New Orleans Attack Suspect Acted Alone, Supported ISIS, FBI Says

Louisiana National Guard stands guard at a gated off area of the French Quarter near the scene of the car ramming on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 02 January 2025. (EPA)
Louisiana National Guard stands guard at a gated off area of the French Quarter near the scene of the car ramming on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 02 January 2025. (EPA)

A US Army veteran who drove a truck into a crowd of New Year's Day revelers had pledged allegiance to ISIS, but acted alone in the attack that killed at least 14 people, the FBI said on Thursday.

The suspect, who was shot dead at the scene after firing at police, has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan who once served in Afghanistan.

He drove from Houston to New Orleans on Dec. 31, and posted five videos on Facebook between 1.29 a.m. and 3.02 a.m. on the morning of the attack in which he said he supported ISIS, the extremist militant group with fighters in Iraq and Syria, the FBI said.

In the first video, Jabbar explains he had previously planned to harm his family and friends, but was concerned that the media coverage would not focus on the "war between the believers and the disbelievers," FBI Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia said at a press conference.

Jabbar also said in the videos that he had joined ISIS before last summer and provided his last will and testament, Raia said.

"This was an act of terrorism," Raia said. "It was premeditated and an evil act."

New Orleans officials said the Sugar Bowl college football game that had been scheduled for Wednesday in a New Year's Day tradition would take place on Thursday afternoon. The city will also host the National Football League's Super Bowl next month.

The FBI said there appeared to be no link between the attack in New Orleans and the episode in Las Vegas on the same day in which a Tesla Cybertruck packed with gasoline canisters and large firework mortars exploded in flames outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House on Jan. 20.

The injured victims in the New Orleans attack included two police officers wounded by gunfire from the suspect, taking place a mere three hours into the new year on Bourbon Street in the historic French Quarter. At least 15 people were killed, including the suspect, the FBI said.

Among the victims were the mother of a 4-year-old who had just moved into a new apartment after getting a promotion at work, a New York financial employee and accomplished student-athlete who was visiting home for the holidays, and an 18-year-old aspiring nurse from Mississippi.

Witnesses described a horrifying scene.

"There were people everywhere," Kimberly Strickland of Mobile, Alabama, said in an interview. "You just heard this squeal and the rev of the engine and this huge loud impact and then the people screaming and debris - just metal - the sound of crunching metal and bodies."

Meanwhile, authorities in other US cities said they had boosted security, including at Trump Tower and Times Square in New York City, adding that there were no immediate threats.

In Washington, police also said they had increased their presence as the capital prepares to host three major events this month: Congress' Jan. 6 certification of US President-elect Donald Trump's presidential election win, the Jan. 9 state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter, and Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.

The FBI said an ISIS flag was found on the trailer hitch of the rented vehicle involved in the New Orleans attack.

US President Joe Biden condemned what he called a "despicable" act.

Public records showed Jabbar worked in real estate in Houston. In a promotional video posted four years ago, Jabbar described himself as born and raised in Beaumont, a city about 80 miles (130 km) east of Houston.

Jabbar was in the regular Army from March 2007 until January 2015 and then in the Army Reserve from January 2015 until July 2020, an Army spokesperson said. He deployed to Afghanistan from February 2009 to January 2010 and held the rank of staff sergeant at the end of service.