Putin confirms tells West to 'go to hell' as nukes moved to Belarus

Vladimir Putin tells West to ‘go to hell’ as despot confirms that nuclear weapons have been moved to Belarus as a precaution for ‘anyone thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat’ on Russia

• Lukashenko said Belarus has started receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons
• It is Moscow’s first move of such bombs outside Russia since fall of Soviet Union

President Putin told the West to ‘go to hell’ on nuclear arms reduction as he confirmed he has moved nuclear weapons into Belarus, claiming it is a precautionary measure for ‘anyone thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat’ on Russia.

Speaking at Russia’s flagship economic forum in St Petersburg, Putin told those gathered that the first warheads had arrived in the country, but that this was only ‘the first part’ of the planned delivery.

He added: ‘Just talking about this (the potential use of nuclear weapons) lowers the nuclear threshold. We have more than NATO countries and they want to reduce our numbers. Go to hell.’ 

Putin told the forum the transfer of the warheads would be complete by the end of the year – but added he saw no reason to deploy nuclear weapons imminently. 

The deployment of tactical nuclear weapons is Moscow’s first move of such bombs  – which could potentially be used on the battlefield – outside Russian borders since the fall of the Soviet Union. 

Speaking at Russia’s flagship economic forum in St Petersburg, Putin told those gathered that the first warheads had arrived in the country, but that this was only ‘the first part’ of the planned delivery

Belarus has already started taking delivery of Russian nukes, some of which President Alexander Lukashenko (with Putin on June 9) boasted are three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Putin claimed on Friday the move was intended as a warning to the West about arming and supporting Ukraine.

‘It is precisely as an element of deterrence so that all those who are thinking about inflicting a strategic defeat on us are not oblivious to this circumstance,’ said Putin, using a diplomatic term for a defeat so severe that Russian power would be diminished on the world stage for decades.

But Russia had no need to resort to nuclear weapons for now, said Putin, signalling no change in Moscow’s nuclear posture which only envisages such a move if the existence of the Russian state is threatened.

‘Nuclear weapons have been made to ensure our security in the broadest sense of the word and the existence of the Russian state, but we…have no such need (to use them),’ Putin said.

But he said talks with the West to reduce Russia’s vast nuclear arsenal, the world’s largest, were a non-starter.

Earlier Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Putin, boasted some of the weapons are three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

‘We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia,’ Lukashenko said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 Russian state TV channel which was posted on the Belarusian Belta state news agency’s Telegram channel.

‘The bombs are three times more powerful than those (dropped on) Hiroshima and Nagasaki,’ he said, speaking on a road in a forest clearing with military vehicles parked nearby and some kind of military storage facility visible in the background.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia, which will retain control of the tactical nuclear weapons, would start deploying them in Belarus after special storage facilities to house them were made ready. 

The despot yesterday threatened that the war in Ukraine could turn nuclear and warned ‘there will be no winners, including America’ in a Third World War.

The deployment will be Moscow’s first move of such bombs – which could potentially be used on the battlefield – outside Russian borders since the fall of the Soviet Union. Pictured: Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile systems drive along a street before a military parade in Moscow, May 9

Lukashenko also raised alarms in the West on Tuesday when he contradicted the idea Russia would control the nukes, claiming that he wouldn’t hesitate to order the use of them if his country faces an aggression. 

READ MORE: Putin threatens that Ukraine war could turn NUCLEAR and warns ‘in the event of a Third World War there will be no winners, including America’

He also emphasised that it was he who had asked Putin to deploy Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus, and not the other way around.

‘God forbid I have to make a decision to use those weapons today, but there would be no hesitation if we face an aggression,’ Lukashenko, known for his blustery statements, said, according to the state news agency BelTA.

Russian officials had no immediate comment on Lukashenko’s remarks.

Putin, whose troops launched a fresh attack on Ukraine overnight on Thursday in Odesa, announced in March he had agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, pointing to the US deployment of such weapons in a host of European countries over many decades.

Tactical nuclear weapons are intended to destroy enemy troops and weapons on the battlefield.

They have a relatively short range and a much lower yield (from a fraction of a kiloton to around 50 kilotons) than nuclear warheads fitted to intercontinental ballistic missiles that are capable of obliterating whole cities.

By comparison, strategic nuclear weapons can have a yield from 100 kilotons to over a megaton, which much larger warheads available.

Lukashenko (with Putin June 9) raised alarms Tuesday when he contradicted the idea Russia would control the nukes , claiming that he wouldn’t hesitate to order the use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons if his country faces an aggression

There are 1,000 kilotons to a single megaton. 

Only the United States has so far used nuclear weapons in anger – in the 1945 attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

‘Fat Man’, the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, had a blast yield of 21 kilotons. The blast killed an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people.

The most powerful nuclear bomb ever created and tested was the Russian Tsar Bomba, which demonstrated a blast yield of between 50 to 58 megatons.

The US has criticised Putin’s decision to threaten nuclear conflict but has said it has no intention of altering its own stance on strategic nuclear weapons and has not seen any signs that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.

The Russian step is nonetheless being watched closely by the United States and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.

Lukashenko told Russian state TV in the interview, which was released late on Tuesday, that his country had numerous nuclear storage facilities left over from the Soviet-era and had restored five or six of them.

The US has criticised Putin’s decision to threaten nuclear conflict but has said it has no intention of altering its own stance on strategic nuclear weapons. Putin pictured yesterday afternoon in a meeting with Russian war correspondents 

He played down the idea that Russian control of the weapons was an impediment to using them quickly if he felt such a move was necessary, saying he and Putin could pick up the phone to each other ‘at any moment’.

Earlier on Tuesday, he had said separately that the Russian tactical nuclear weapons would be physically deployed on the territory of Belarus ‘in several days’ and that he had the facilities to host longer-range missiles too if ever needed.

Lukashenko, who has allowed his country to be used by Russian forces attacking Ukraine as part of what Moscow calls its ‘special military operation’, says the nuclear deployment will act as a deterrent against potential aggressors.

Belarus borders three NATO member countries: Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

The 68-year-old former Soviet collective farm boss, who has ruled Belarus since 1994, making him Europe’s longest-serving leader, said he didn’t simply ask Putin for the weapons, but ‘demanded’ them.

‘We have always been a target,’ Lukashenko said. ‘They (the West) have wanted to tear us to pieces since 2020. No one has so far fought against a nuclear country, a country that has nuclear weapons.’

Lukashenko has repeatedly accused the West of trying to topple him after mass protests against his rule erupted in 2020 in the wake of a presidential election the opposition said he had fraudulently won. Lukashenko said he had won fairly, while conducting a sweeping crackdown on his opponents.

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