The Belarusian-Russian drills on the combat use of nuclear weapons held on May 18–21 took place at the 465th Missile Brigade in Asipovichy. This is the site where journalists had previously reported the construction of nuclear-related infrastructure, Radio Svaboda reports.
According to the outlet, official video footage shows that the simulated nuclear missile launch using the Iskander-M system took place on a site between newly built hangars constructed for these systems. Iskander vehicles can also be seen inside the hangars. Defence Minister Viktar Khrenin showed Aliaksandr Lukashenka reconstructed barracks and the brigade headquarters.
Russia delivered the first Iskander-M vehicles to Belarus at the end of 2022. In July 2023, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) identified a new hangar in Asipovichy capable of accommodating a full Iskander-M battalion.
Based on subsequent satellite imagery, Radio Svaboda concluded that by early 2025 two additional similar hangars had been built there, which may indicate that Russia transferred a full missile brigade to Belarus — at least three battalions, including 12 launcher vehicles.
Twelve kilometres from Asipovichy is the 1405th Artillery Ammunition Base, which, according to journalists and analysts, may contain a storage facility for nuclear warheads. Construction activity there intensified almost immediately after Vladimir Putin announced in March 2023 that tactical nuclear weapons would be deployed in Belarus.
Official video footage of Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s visit to the military unit in Asipovichy on May 21 confirmed some of the information previously identified by Radio Svaboda through satellite images, the outlet noted. It remains impossible to verify whether Belarusian forces received nuclear warheads for the missiles from Russia. The announced launch was an electronic simulation — the missile itself remained on the launcher, while destruction of the target was simulated.
Radio Svaboda also identified one of the Russian military officers present at the drills alongside Lukashenka. He is believed to be Major General Roman Gromyshov, who at the end of 2021 commanded a military unit belonging to Russia’s 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defence — the structure responsible for the storage, maintenance and transportation of Russian nuclear munitions.
Experts had previously stressed that the deployment of nuclear weapons in Belarus would be impossible without the involvement of personnel from Russia’s 12th Main Directorate. In their view, if such weapons are indeed present in Belarus, all the necessary infrastructure for Russian personnel must also have been created there — effectively establishing a new Russian base on Belarusian territory.
The president of the Polish National Security Institute, Stanisław Żaryn, believes Russia continues to use Belarus for information and psychological operations against NATO.
“The current drills are a signal deliberately prepared by Russia for the world: make a deal with the Kremlin, or face the risk of nuclear war,” he wrote on X.
