The researchers’ conclusion is largely consistent with the findings of US intelligence, said a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share information that was not authorized for public release.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear that he plans to deploy medium-range Oresnik missiles in Belarus, with an estimated range of up to 5,500 kilometers, but the exact location was not previously announced, reports Hina.
Oresnik’s deployment would further highlight the Kremlin’s growing dependence on the threat of nuclear weapons, as it tries to discourage NATO members from supplying Kiev with weapons that can strike deep inside Russia, some experts said. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while the Belarusian Embassy declined to comment.
State news agency Belta quoted Defense Minister Viktor Krenjin on Wednesday as saying that the Oresnik deployment would not change the balance of power in Europe and that it was “a response to the aggressive actions of the West.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the CIA declined to comment.
The Hazel aka Oreshnik in action
I really and sincerely cannot wait to see these fuckin bullies get a good asswhoopin from Russia and China
I’m sick and tired of all their bullying going on around the world now
Enough ffs!
pic.twitter.com/ltn2vxX85O— Masharikan (@Adambrv) December 23, 2025
Researchers Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California and Decker Eveleth of the research and analysis organization CNA in Virginia said they based their findings on the Oreshnik deployment on images from the satellite company Planet Labs, which showed features consistent with a Russian strategic missile base.
Lewis and Eveleth claim they are 90 percent certain the Oresnik mobile launchers will be stationed at a former air base near Krychev, about 307 kilometers east of the Belarusian capital Minsk and 478 kilometers southwest of Moscow.
Moscow tested the conventionally armed Oreshnik against a target in Ukraine in November 2024. Putin boasts that it is impossible to intercept due to speeds that reportedly exceed Mach ten. “Putin plans to deploy weapons in Belarus to extend his reach further into Europe,” said John Foreman, a Chatham House expert who served as Britain’s military attaché in Moscow and Kiev.
Foreman said he also sees the move as a reaction to the planned stationing of US conventional missiles in Germany next year, which includes the Dark Eagle medium-range hypersonic missile.
Putin said after a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in December 2024 that Oreshnik could be stationed in Belarus in the second half of this year, part of a revised strategy in which Moscow deploys nuclear weapons outside its territory for the first time since the Cold War.
Lukashenko said last week that the first missiles had been deployed, without specifying the location, adding that up to ten Oreshniks would be located in Belarus. American researchers estimated that the site was large enough to accommodate only three launchers and that others could be located elsewhere.
Lewis said the Oresnik deployment in Belarus underscores how Russia’s stationing of nuclear weapons outside its territory sends a “political message” about increased reliance on them.
“Can you imagine if we put nuclear-armed Tomahawks in Germany instead of just conventional ones? There are no military reasons to put a system in Belarus, only political ones,” Lewis said.
(Vijesti.ba)
