Russia released video on Tuesday of what it said was the deployment of its nuclear-capable hypersonic Oreshnik missile system in close ally Belarus, a move meant to boost Moscow’s ability to strike targets across Europe in the event of a war.
The state news agency TASS said it was the first time that the defense ministry had shown off the Oreshnik mobile missile systems, which President Vladimir Putin has declared are impossible to intercept because of missile speeds reportedly more than 10 times the speed of sound.
The deployment, and Moscow’s announcement that the missiles have entered active service in a country that borders Ukraine and NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, comes at a time of heightened East-West tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The move would allow Russian nuclear missiles to reach European targets slightly faster in any war.
Some Western experts have said the development underlines the Kremlin’s growing reliance on the threat of nuclear weapons as it seeks to deter NATO members from supplying Ukraine with weapons that can strike deep inside Russia.
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