Overview

• Belarusian General Staff chief Pawel Muraweiko said the drills included planning and testing for non-strategic nuclear use plus inspection and stationing activity for the mobile Oreschnik missile system.
• Officials said all exercise objectives were met, though they provided no technical details about the new medium-range, nuclear-capable missile.
• Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is pressing to host Oreschnik, and Russia already keeps tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.
• Poland closed crossings with Belarus due to the exercise and will reopen only when authorities confirm the border is fully safe.
• Training took place in Belarus and Russia as well as the Baltic and Barents Seas, with Minsk citing 6,000 Belarusian and 1,000 Russian troops in-country, figures Western experts dispute while noting the drills were smaller than in 2021.