Ukraine accuses Russia of taking Belarus “hostage” by sending tactical nuclear weapons. Photo: AFP
Ukraine accused Russia of making neighboring Belarus its “nuclear hostage”, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on his ally’s territory, while the Kremlin said it NATO seeks to build an analogy to the Axis of World War II.
“The Kremlin has taken Belarus hostage nuclear,” wrote on Twitter the secretary of the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksii Danilov, who considered that the decision is “a step towards the internal destabilization of the country.”
Also this sunday Putin claimed that the West is building an analogy to the Axis that Germany, Italy and Japan formed during World War II.
Meanwhile, for the Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhailo Podoliak, the Russian president admits, with this measure, that “he is afraid of losing (the war) and that all he can do is be scary,” the AFP news agency reported.
Last Saturday, the russian president announced that his country will deploy short-range nuclear weapons on the territory of his ally Belarus in response to the UK’s decision to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium shells.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia. Photo: AFP
for his partGermany denounced this initiative on Sunday as “a new attempt at nuclear intimidation” by Russia, and affirmed that Belarus is going against its commitment to remain a territory without nuclear weapons.
Putin has already made veiled threats to use nuclear weapons amid tensions with the United States over Ukraine.but placing atomic weapons in a country bordering Ukraine, the European Union (EU) and NATO ups the ante.
In a television interview on Saturday, he also threatened to order the use of DU shells in Ukraine if Ukraine receives such weapons from the West, saying that Russia was simply imitating the United States, which “does that for decades,” he told the Rossiya 24 channel.
“We have decided to do the same”he added, assuring that he had reached an agreement with the Belarusian president, Alexandr Lukashenko.
Lukashenkoin power for almost 30 years, it is a major ally of Russia, and in February 2022 it allowed the Kremlin to use its territory to invade neighboring Ukraine.
Putin said he will start training crews on April 3 and plans to finish construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus on July 1.
Russia used the territory of Belarus to send troops to Ukraine, and the two allied countries have maintained close military ties.
Since then there have been fears that Belarus would join the offensive in Ukraine, but Lukashenko responded that he would only do so if his country is attacked.
Nukes fired by Russia. Photo: AFP
Atomic bombs can be made with uranium, enriched to levels between 60 and 90%. Low enriched uranium (less than 20%) includes that used in reactors. The depleted (less than 0.3%) is used to make anti-armor ammunition.
The use of depleted uranium ammunition implies toxic risks for the military and the population of the areas where it is used.
Unlike the more powerful and long-range strategic nuclear weapons, tactical nuclear weapons are designed for use on the battlefieldand have a radius of action of 800 kilometers or less.
Speaking to Russian television, Putin recalled this Sunday that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) approved a new strategic concept, which proclaims the global nature of the bloc.
“It is precisely for this reason that politicians in the West say that an axis similar to the one that the fascist regimes of Germany and Italy and the militarists of Japan articulated in the 1930s is beginning to be built,” Putin said. sputnik news.
Nuclear missiles in the ocean. Photo: AFP
In 2022, the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea were invited to the NATO summit in Madrid, in recognition of the importance the alliance attaches to the Indo-Pacific region.
Two key members of NATO, the United States and the United Kingdom, announced in September 2021 a defense alliance with Australia -AUKUS for the English initials of its three members- with which they seek to counteract China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific. , among other things, by promoting the construction of nuclear-powered submarines for the Australian Navy.
Last Saturday, Putin argued that the reason for his decision was “the announcement by the British Deputy Defense Minister about the supply of depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine.”
The British anti-nuclear organization Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament warned after the British announcement that its use would cause an “additional environmental and health disaster for those at the center of the conflict” in Ukraine.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, warned last month that the risk of using nuclear weapons was heightened by the prolongation of the conflict in Ukraine.
Putin suspended Russia’s participation in the New START nuclear disarmament treaty, which it had signed with the United States, in February and accused Western countries of “stirring up” the conflict in Ukraine.
