Russia and Belarus have finalized the arrangements for relocating some of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Belarusian counterpart, Viktor Khrenin, signed on Thursday documents that determine joint procedures regarding the relocation of weapons and organize the mechanisms of placing them under the Russian forces’ control on Belarusian territories.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed two months ago a decree to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
Belarus's Ministry of Defense said the agreement refers to a special storage facility on the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
The two defense ministers discussed the political and military situation as well as the technical and military cooperation between the two ministries.
Control over the weaponry and decision on its use remains with Moscow, Shoigu stressed.
He added that Russia may take “additional measures” in the future “to ensure the security of the Union State and respond to the military-political situation.”
“The collective West is essentially waging an undeclared war against our countries,” added the Russian defense minister.
Shoigu arrived in Minsk on Thursday to take part in the meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
The participants exchange views on regional challenges and threats, improving the crisis response system, and other joint issues. CSTO includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Shoigu said during the meeting that the decision was made in the context of an extremely sharp escalation of threats on the western borders of Russia and Belarus.
Shoigu said that Iskander-M missiles, which can carry conventional or nuclear warheads, had been handed to the Belarusian armed forces, and some Su-25 aircraft had been converted for the possible use of nuclear weapons.
"Belarusian servicemen have received the necessary training," Shoigu was quoted as saying by his ministry.
The Russian Federal Security Service’s (FSB) Public Relations Center announced on Thursday that on the eve of May 9, Victory Day, an attempt by Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) to commit sabotage at two nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the Leningrad and Tver regions of Russia was thwarted.
The FSB noted that an attempt was made to blow up over 30 pylons of high-voltage electric power lines which, as plotted by the Ukrainian secret services, would have shut down nuclear reactors, disrupted the regular operations of nuclear facilities, and caused serious economic and reputational damage to the Russian Federation.
Moreover, six drones were downed Wednesday night in Russian-annexed Crimea.
The Russian-backed head of Crimea's administration said on Thursday that air defenses had downed six drones overnight in different areas of the region.
There were no casualties, Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram.
Moreover, Russia's Wagner group has started moving its forces out of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Thursday.
Prigozhin announced the capture of Bakhmut, adding that his fighters would pull out by June 1.
