Russia and Belarus conducted a joint strategic and non-strategic nuclear exercise from May 19–21, involving over 64,000 personnel and significant equipment, including eight strategic ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) (TASS, May 19). This drill, which saw presidential participation, focused on nuclear forces preparation and employment under aggression scenarios in the Western/European Theater of Military Operations (TVD).
Moscow and Minsk presented the exercise as a defensive response to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) militarization and the Western-backed war in Ukraine, with some Russian experts openly advocating for nuclear strikes. Belarus's 8–12 Iskander launchers and 36 nuclear-capable aircraft provide 13–33 percent of missile and up to 17–75 percent of aviation components for a regional nuclear operation, making it a significant forward-deployed platform. The public display of joint presidential-level nuclear decision-making shares political responsibility with Minsk, potentially making Belarus a co-belligerent and retaliatory target in a nuclear conflict. Russian officials, including Deputy Foreign Ministers Sergei Ryabkov and Mikhail Galuzin, warned that threats to Russia's territorial integrity could trigger a nuclear response, urging attention to Russian nuclear doctrine.
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