Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced on Thursday that Russia’s advanced hypersonic ballistic missile system, known as the Oreshnik, is already en route to Belarus for deployment, signaling a significant escalation in Moscow’s military posture in the region. He told reporters in Moscow, “It’s already on its way. Everything will be fine.”
Lukashenko had previously committed to hosting the weapon by year’s end, citing a bilateral agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin reached in Volgograd. He framed the deployment as a defensive measure to bolster Belarus’s sovereignty and ward off external threats. Belarus’ Defense Ministry earlier stated that Russian and Belarusian forces had practiced scenarios involving non-strategic nuclear weapons and the Oreshnik system during joint exercises under the Zapad-2025 military drills.
The Oreshnik missile is an intermediate-range ballistic system capable of carrying either conventional or nuclear warheads, with a reported range of around 5,500 km and velocities up to Mach 10. Its first combat use was observed in November 2024, when Russia launched it against a military-industrial target in Ukraine. Moscow has claimed the missile is extremely difficult to intercept, giving it a strategic edge.
In past joint drills, Belarusian officials confirmed that the Oreshnik system was among the assets rehearsed, reinforcing the view that Minsk is deepening military integration with its Russian ally. Belarus has also long permitted Russian tactical nuclear weapons on its territory, a posture Moscow has leveraged to extend its nuclear umbrella over Belarus.
