The ministry recently unveiled a video featuring combat vehicles from the mobile intermediate-range ballistic missile system navigating through a forest during a training exercise.

This announcement came on the heels of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s earlier statement this month, confirming the arrival of the Oreshnik in Belarus.

The message was a clear warning to the West, aiming to deter any plans to arm Ukraine with long-range weaponry capable of striking Russia. This move appears to lower the threshold for Russia’s potential use of its nuclear arsenal.

Additionally, the updated Russian military doctrine has extended its nuclear protection to include Belarus.

Lukashenko, who has maintained a tight grip on Belarus’s 9.5 million citizens for over 30 years, continues to face international sanctions.

The West has repeatedly imposed these sanctions in response to his government’s human rights violations and for allowing Russian military operations against Ukraine to be launched from Belarusian soil.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has said that the deployment of Oreshnik to Belarus deepens the country’s military and political dependence on Russia.