The dictator of Belarus has announced that his fighter jets have been modified to carry nuclear weapons and “targets have been selected if the US and the West provoke him.” Belarus is a close ally of Russia and was used as a base for the invasion of Ukraine
The president of Belarus has said that the country’s fighter jets can carry nuclear weapons. According to him, the change of the plane came after a meeting with Vladimir Putin in June. He warned that “targets have been chosen” if the West provokes Belarus. The country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, added that “targets have been selected” in the West if he feels threatened.
President Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, warned the US and its allies against carrying out a ‘provocation’ against Belarus. According to him, the modification of the SU-24s followed his meeting with Putin in June, when he proposed to turn the fighter jets The Belarusians for the ability to carry nuclear weapons in Russian factories and to assist in pilot training.
The Belarusian state news agency “Balta” quoted the president: “They (the West) need to understand that no helicopter or aircraft will save them if they decide to make the situation worse. Putin and I once said in St. Petersburg that we would modify Belarus’ Sukhoi aircraft, among other things, so that they could carry Nuclear weapons. Do you think we are talking nonsense? Everything is ready.”
Lukashenko did not say how many Belarusian fighter jets had been upgraded to make them capable of carrying nuclear warheads, nor did he present any evidence to back up the claim. According to reports in Russia, Belarus retired its fleet of Sukhoi Su-24s a decade ago, Russia’s defense minister said ten years ago that “the planes have outlived their usefulness, and it has no nuclear weapons of its own” so it is not clear what the Belarusian president meant . The Kremlin did not respond to Lukashenko’s statement.
Russia has used the territory of Belarus as a staging area for sending troops to Ukraine since the invasion began in February, with Moscow and Minsk maintaining close military ties. Last Wednesday August 24, the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union, Lukashenko posted a message on his website wishing Ukrainians ‘peaceful skies, tolerance, courage, strength and success in restoring a fair life’.
The message was circulated by the Ukrainians as ‘cynical’, as missile attacks on the country continue to come from Russian forces in Belarus. Last February, Lukashenko said his country could deploy Russian nuclear weapons if the US and its allies deployed nuclear weapons to NATO members Poland and Lithuania, which border Belarus.
Lukashenko has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for 28 years while relying on the political and economic support of Russia. In 2020, Moscow helped him survive a wave of mass protests in the country’s history, after a presidential election that the opposition and the West claimed was rigged.