Belarusian Defense Minister Viktar Khrenin said in a statement on YouTube on June 10 that his country’s armed forces were taking part in the second phase of Russian exercises to practice the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons. Khrenin claimed that the drills were being held "to guarantee security" for Belarus and the Union State of Belarus and Russia. The first phase of the exercises, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, were held in southern Russia in May. Putin's move was seen as an attempt to deter the West from providing weapons to Ukraine to assist Kyiv's efforts to resist Moscow's full-scale invasion.
