The Belarusian military has completed what appears to be a new garage facility for the allegedly nuclear-capable Iskander missile launchers it received from Russia at the 465th Missile Brigade base, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) says.
According to the FAS, satellite images indicate construction began in October 2022 and was completed in April 2023.
A Maxar satellite image taken on July 4, 2023, shows four 13-meter Iskander launchers (and/or transporters) and two smaller support vehicles outside the garage. The missile storage compartment on one of the launchers is open.
The new facility is located seven kilometers from the training ground and only 12 kilometers from a weapons depot that might be undergoing a potential upgrade to a temporary nuclear warhead storage facility, the FAS says.
Earlier, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin described plans not only to equip Belarusian Iskander launchers with the capability to fire Russian nuclear-tipped missiles and to build a nuclear storage facility in Belarus but also said Russia would upgrade some Belarusian military jets (potentially Su-24 or Su-25) to deliver nuclear bombs.
Earlier, US officials from the Defense Intelligence Agency said they had “no reason to doubt” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims that Russia already moved the first batch of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
US officials have “no reason to doubt” Russia moved nuclear weapons to Belarus – CNN
