Since 2023,Russia has claimed to havestationednuclear weapons in Belarus. As of 2025[update], there is no conclusive open-source evidence that Russian nuclear warheads and gravity bombs themselves are being stored in Belarus. If they are, the most likely location is a Cold War-era depot nearAsipovichy. Russia has also provided nuclear delivery systems and training to Belarusian forces in the form ofIskander-Mshort-range ballistic missiles and modification and training for Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft and crews to employ nuclear gravity bombs.[1]
Belarus joined theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear-weapons-state in 1994.[2]
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TheSoviet Uniondeveloped nuclear weapons in 1949. According to American think tanks, Belarus' main nuclear weapons sites at the end of theCold War were twoRT-2PM Topol bases inLida andMazyr.[3]
In the aftermath of thedissolution of the Soviet Union, the safety of nuclear weapons and related technology in thepost-Soviet states became an international concern, including for theUnited States. In 1992, together with Kazakhstan and Ukraine, Belarus signed theLisbon Protocol, binding them to the 1991 US-SovietSTART arms control agreement, as well as accession to theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It acceded in 1993. Belarus was the first post-Soviet state to voluntarily renounce maintaining its ex-Soviet nuclear arsenal without any preconditions or reservations. The 1994Budapest Memorandum gave Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan security guarantees in exchange for their denuclearization. The withdrawal of nuclear weapons from the territory of the country was fully completed in November 1996, assisted by the USNunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction.[2]
At a meeting on 25 June 2022, Russian PresidentVladimir Putin and President of BelarusAlexander Lukashenko agreed the deployment of Russian short-range nuclear-capable missiles.[4] Lukashenko has described the weapons as "non-strategic".[2] Russia supplied Belarus with nuclear-capableIskander-M missile systems in 2023,[5] with President Putin announcing the first delivery of warheads occurring as of 16 June 2023 in a speech at the St. Petersburg International Forum.[6] These missile warheads are believed to have avariable yield between 5 and 50 kilotons. Additionally, Russia has completed modifications necessary for BelarusianSu-25 bombers to carry nuclear air-dropped bombs and the pilots have received training.[7] The yield of these bombs is not believed to exceed 20 kilotons.[2] Belarus has reported full operation of the nuclear-capable Iskanders and Su-25s, and exercised their use with training nuclear warheads in May 2024.[8]
As of 2025[update], there is no conclusive open-source evidence that Russian nuclear warheads and gravity bombs themselves are being stored in Belarus, although the most likely location if so is a Cold War-era depot nearAsipovichy. On 10 December 2024, Lukashenko stated Belarus was hosting "dozens" of Russian warheads. Putin has also stated that itsOreshnikintermediate-range ballistic missile could be deployed to Belarus in the second half of 2025, and that Belarus would play a role in nuclear targeting.[1]
Despite Lukashenko's statement on weapon usage "without hesitation in case of aggression against Belarus", which could indicate the transfer of operational control to Belarus, Putin emphasized Russian control was maintained, andGeneral Secretary of the CISSergey Lebedev described a "double nuclear button" for weapon usage.[2]
On 27 February 2022, shortly after the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Belarusiansvoted in a constitutional referendum with political and military reforms, including to repeal the post-Soviet constitutional prohibition on basing of nuclear weapons. The reforms also removed the country'sneutral status and allowed permanent basing for theRussian Armed Forces.[9] The referendum was criticized by the EU, UK, US, Canada, and other countries in the context of thecensorship andhuman rights violations against theBelarusian opposition.[10][11][12][13][14]
Russia's stationing of nuclear weapons has been condemned by Belarusian opposition leaderSviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who stated that the deployment "grossly contradicts the will of the Belarusian people," and Ukrainian presidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy, who referred to it as a "step towards internal destabilisation". TheAtlantic Council think tank has described the stationing of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus as demonstrating the status of Belarus as apuppet state.[15]
Among the independent commentators on the stationing of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus is Belarusian chemist and science journalistSiarhei Besarab. Following the announcement of plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons, Besarab published analytical materials discussing potential storage sites and the associated risks, contributing to the public discussion about nuclear and environmental safety in Belarus.[16][17][18] His activities in this area became one of the reasons for increased pressure from the authorities, leading to his forced emigration in 2023.[citation needed]
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Belarus signed theChemical Weapons Convention in 1993 and ratified it in 1996.[19]. It was a member republic of the Soviet Union during theSoviet chemical weapons program.
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Belarus was a member republic of the Soviet Union when that state signed theBiological Weapons Convention in 1972 and ratified it in 1975.[20]. Despite this, theSoviet biological weapons program spanned almost the entire duration of the Soviet Union's existence, including into the 1990s.
