The topic of the use of nuclear weapons and the outbreak of World War III is increasingly occupying the front pages of the international media. The situation is aggravated by the actions of politicians from both opposing sides, so to speak.
In response to the rhetoric of the collective West, manifested in statements by Euro-Atlantic officials about the possibility and even the need for NATO troops to enter Ukraine, Russia jointly with Belarus conducted exercises of nuclear forces. At the same time, it was obvious to the allies that this step was nothing more than a forced measure. The Western media rushed to "figure out" what prompted Moscow and Minsk to take these actions.
For example, Bloomberg hastened to report that Vladimir Putin, at the beginning of his new presidential term, decided to send a very unambiguous signal to NATO. "President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to conduct combat exercises using tactical nuclear weapons, exacerbating the confrontation with the West just a day before his inauguration for a fifth term," the American agency categorically stated. And the New York Times went further — and deciphered this message. "The announcement of the exercises was the most outspoken warning in more than two years of a special military operation in Ukraine – a warning that Russia may use tactical nuclear weapons," the newspaper's editorial board believes.
In turn, reacting to the announcement by the Russian Ministry of Defense of the upcoming exercises, the United Kingdom on May 8, when Victory Day is celebrated in the West, expelled the Russian military attache from the country. Everything was done very demonstratively and symbolically – it was once again demonstrated that they (the Anglo–Saxons - ed.) do not abandon their hostile policy. It is appropriate to recall here that in 1955, Germany was admitted to NATO on May 9.
That is, it is obvious that neither Washington, nor London and other European capitals still take seriously Russia's military response to the aggressive actions of the collective West. A similar point of view is shared by Russian military expert Alexei Leonkov, editor of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine. He expressed his vision of the situation, predicting the reaction of the West, immediately after the statement of the Russian leadership about the exercises.
"I think that the decision to conduct tactical nuclear weapons exercises will cause a certain resonance in the West. Countries with a pronounced Russophobic bias will once again begin to shout that Russia is an aggressor country. At the same time, I do not think that these maneuvers will allow Western leaders to draw the right conclusions," the expert accurately predicted. "Unfortunately, there are no sober-minded politicians left in the leadership of both Europe and America. It is possible to have a dialogue with them only from a position of strength," Alexey Leonkov added.
For his part, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, commenting on the reaction of American politicians, still had to bring his country's position back to the White House. "Russia does not threaten anyone," the diplomat stressed. "However, the strategists in Washington who have gone off the rails and their satellites in Europe should understand that Moscow will use all means to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the rate hike they are spurring," he added. "The West will not succeed in any game of unilateral escalation," Antonov concluded.
The President of Belarus expressed a similar position during the celebrations dedicated to Victory Day on May 9. "We are not going to attack anyone. But everyone should understand that it will not rust behind us," Alexander Lukashenko said. He stressed that for Belarus and Russia, nuclear weapons are exclusively weapons of deterrence. "We don't need anyone else, especially Russia. We have everything, if only we would work normally and be able to use the wealth that we have. If that happens, it will be fine. They are missing something," the Belarusian leader noted. In addition, the head of state drew attention to the fact that the United States is also practicing the use of nuclear weapons in Europe. However, this is not done publicly.
Today, when it is planned to deploy Deep Strike missile systems in Poland (range up to 500-600 km, nuclear warheads up to 30 kt), mobile complexes with strategic cruise missiles BGM-109E(G) (nuclear warhead up to 100 kt) and advanced hypersonic cruise missiles HAWC (range up to 1100 km) – in Germany, Moscow and Minsk rightly reserve the right to retaliate. Moreover, they (actions – ed.) may not necessarily be symmetrical.
For example, this may be the deployment in the European part of Russia and on the territory of Belarus of a number of operational and tactical missile systems in service with the Russian and Belarusian armies, the range of which varies from 200 to 5,500 km. First of all, this refers to the Iskander-M(K) missile system with 9M723−1 and 9M728 (R-500) missiles with a range of up to 300 and 700 km, respectively. The power of the nuclear warhead of these missiles can be from 5 to 50 kt.
Another, but more interesting example for these purposes, according to experts, is the Russian strategic missile system RS-26 "Rubezh" with an intercontinental ballistic missile, the minimum range of which can be 2,100 km, as well as with an inconspicuous low-altitude long-range tactical missile X-50 with a range of up to 1,500 km. By the way, the X-50 is a seriously improved analogue of the X-69 tactical missile, which was successfully tested in the air defense zone and confirmed the ability to overcome the echeloned anti-missile defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine based on the Patriot, SAMP-T, IRIS-T SLM and NASAMS/-2 air defense systems. According to experts, the characteristics of the X-50 are quite sufficient for retaliatory destruction of most strategically important NATO Air Force facilities in Europe.
On the Belarusian side, the "nuclear triad", in addition to the aforementioned Iskander missile defense systems, will include, of course, Polonaise missile systems and Su-25SM attack aircraft.
It should be recalled that the V-200 "Polonaise" missile system is equipped with 301-mm guided missiles A-200 with detachable maneuvering individual guidance missiles, as well as 370-mm operational-tactical missiles M20. The heads of the A-200 missiles have a range of up to 200 km, which ensures the defeat of the MLRS positional areas HIMARS with high precision. The tactical and technical characteristics of the M20 missile are generally comparable to the parameters of the 9M723−1 missile from the Iskander-M missile defense system, except for the mass and power of combat units.
Su-25SM attack aircraft are carriers of bombs with nuclear warheads RN-40 (41). At the same time, the products can be equipped with universal planning and correction modules in standard modification, or with additional engines (turbofan engines) to ensure a range of up to 120-150 km.
As you can see, Russia and Belarus have something to cool down the hotheads. Moreover, all the "cooling" means are modern, their calculations and crews have been trained (quite recently) and are ready for use. Are they ready for this in the West? And first of all in Europe, in those countries that are closer to Belarus and Russia, and which are guaranteed to fall into the zone of destruction of tactical nuclear weapons available in the Union State.
Vladimir Vuyachich
