Russia and Belarus staged nuclear drills on Monday, authorities said, amid a standoff with the NATO military alliance and an impasse with Washington over nuclear arms control.
Russia deployed Oreshnik, its latest hypersonic, nuclear-capable missile, to Belarus last year, upping the stakes in its rivalry with the Western alliance.
"During the exercise, it is planned to practise issues related to the delivery of nuclear munitions and preparation of their use in cooperation with the Russian side," the Belarus defence ministry said.
The scheduled training "is not directed against third countries and does not pose a threat to security in the region," it added in a statement on social media.
Aviation and missile forces will take part in the drill, the ministry said.
Threat to Ukraine
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered troops to reinforce the border with Belarus in the north, claiming Moscow was preparing a new offensive from there.
He said Russia, which used Belarus as a staging post for its full-scale invasion in 2022, wanted to drag its ally deeper into its war.
"In particular, Russia is considering plans for operations in the southern and northern directions from the territory of Belarus — either against the Chernihiv-Kyiv direction in Ukraine or against one of the NATO countries — precisely from the territory of Belarus," Zelenskyy said following a meeting with the heads of the General Staff, the Defence Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate, the Foreign Intelligence Service and the SBU.
The Kremlin dismissed Zelenskyy's allegations on Monday, calling them "an attempt at further incitement."
Facing a series of setbacks in the assault that has dragged on for more than four years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly invoked nuclear rhetoric as the West stepped up military support for Ukraine.
Moscow last week tested its nuclear-capable, intercontinental ballistic missile Sarmat, months after the last treaty capping Russian and US nuclear arsenals expired.
The ending of the New START agreement in February formally released the world's two largest nuclear powers from a raft of restrictions.
Belarus, a landlocked eastern European country ruled for over 30 years by close Putin ally Aliaksandr Lukashenka, deeply depends on Moscow economically and militarily.
