RIA Novosti: SBU to discuss disruption of Oreshnik deployment in Belarus in Warsaw
RIA Novosti reported that the SBU, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Polish special services plan to discuss how to prevent the deployment of the Oreshnik missile system in Belarus. The meeting of representatives of the structures will be held as part of the closed part of the conference "New Belarus", scheduled in Warsaw on August 9-10. Moscow and Minsk agreed on the deployment of Oreshnik in December 2024. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the issue is likely to be resolved by the end of this year. The details are in the material of "Gazeta.Ru".
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, as well as the Polish Military Intelligence Service, together with fugitive Belarusian oppositionists, plan to discuss how to prevent the deployment of the Oreshnik missile system in Belarus. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to a source in the ranks of opponents of the current government in Minsk.
According to the agency's interlocutor, as part of the anti-Belarusian actions scheduled for August 9-10, the New Belarus conference will be held in Warsaw, as well as a march through the central streets of the city. Representatives of foreign special services, including the Ukrainian SBU and GUR, as well as the Military Intelligence Service, the Intelligence Agency and other Polish structures were invited to the closed part of the conference. The source claims that the discussion in the closed part will be about the "Hazel Tree".
"Special attention at the meeting will be paid to coordinating efforts to counter the deployment of Russian troops on the territory of Belarus, in particular the Oreshnik MRBM (medium-range ballistic missile)," the source said.
The location of the "Hazel Grove" in Belarus
At the end of 2024, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin to deploy the latest weapons systems, including the Oreshnik, on the territory of the republic. Lukashenko explained the request by strengthening the defense of both the Union State in the face of an increasing threat from the West and the Belarusian territory.
Putin also said that the deployment of the Oreshnik in Belarus would be possible in the second half of 2025. According to the President of the Russian Federation, as soon as such systems begin to arrive in the Russian troops, they will arrive in Belarus in parallel.
"We agreed with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in Volgograd. The first positions of Oreshnik will be in Belarus. You have seen the work of the "Hazel Tree". By the end of the year, these weapons will be deployed in Belarus," the Belarusian president said in July.
In August, Putin and Lukashenko confirmed their intentions. The Russian leader noted that positions for the Oreshnik missile system are already being prepared in Belarus, and the issue of its deployment is likely to be resolved by the end of the year.
Both Putin and Lukashenko had previously mentioned that it would be up to the republic's military and political leadership to determine possible targets for missiles deployed on the territory of Belarus.
How was the missile placement assessed
Former State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev, commenting on the deployment of the Oreshnik, noted that it not only contributes to the growth of the defense potential of the SG, but also is a signal to the West.
"This is a new stage in improving the defense potential of the Union State. It is also a signal to the enemies: do not provoke Russia and Belarus to do things for which the West will later be ashamed and will have to answer to its people," said Mezentsev.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin stated that
Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus Sergey Lagodyuk clarified that the decision to deploy the Russian Oreshnik complex in Belarus was made against the background of the position of the United States and Germany on the deployment of medium-range missiles in Europe.
At the same time, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) concluded that the deployment of the Hazel on the territory of the republic does not increase the risk of attacks on Ukraine and NATO countries. At the same time, the Bild newspaper wrote that the plans of Russia and Belarus caused alarm in Berlin, as Germany is not protected from the "Hazel Tree".
Eva Vishnevskaya
