Preparations for nuclear weapons deployment in Belarus have been ongoing for 2 years – military observer Alesin

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

"In fact, the matter is serious, because preparations for the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus have been going on for the last two and a half years. First, Belarus received nuclear weapons carriers, Su-24 frontline bombers, for storage in 2012. 35 of these machines were put into storage, 12 were sold to Sudan, and about 5 turned into monuments. The rest were sent to Sukhoi Aviation Holding Company a few years ago, where they were overhauled with a partial return of their flight resource and the ability to carry nuclear weapons was restored. And now it has been reported that the process of modernization and technical training has been completed, and these bombers will be flying and pilots will be training," said a leading Belarusian expert on defense and the military-industrial complex.

Alesin noted that the Su-24 was originally a nuclear bomber, but when Belarus acquired a non-nuclear status, the equipment that allowed the use of nuclear weapons was dismantled.

"The second nuclear weapon carrier is the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile complex. About six months ago, there were reports that Russia would bring these systems to Belarus. A few months after this event took place, the Belarusians pasted Belarusian flags instead of Russian ones on the cabins of these vehicles, which have already become Belarusian Iskanders. They can carry nuclear warheads of about 50 kilotons, and the range of this complex is 500 kilometers, which means that it practically covers the Baltic states, Poland, and a large part of Ukraine. And the range of the Su-24 can reach up to 1300 kilometers, depending on the bomb's fuel. That is, everything is very serious. And finally, the 'icing on the cake' was Putin's statement about the completion of the construction of a nuclear storage facility in Belarus on July 1. However, he did not say when nuclear weapons would be loaded there. Some experts say that it will never happen, and it is rather a "trick" to intimidate the West," commented Alesin.

• On March 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that a storage facility for Russian tactical nuclear weapons would be completed in Belarus by July 1.

• On March 31, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko said that strategic nuclear weapons could be deployed in Belarus.