Putin says Russia will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said he would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, an ally of Moscow. Belarus has been supporting Russia in its attack on Ukraine. When the war began, Moscow used Belarus to encircle Ukraine and sent soldiers positioned there to capture Kyiv.    

Putin said he would deploy depleted uranium ammunition if Kyiv received such munitions from the West, French news agency AFP reported on Sunday. While the nuclear move has sparked fears, the Russian President has downplayed the step saying the US has been doing the same for years.  "There is nothing unusual here either: the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long placed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allies," Putin said.

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When asked how Moscow would respond if the West supplied Ukraine with depleted uranium shells, Putin said Russia had what it needed to answer. "Russia of course has what it needs to answer. Without exaggeration, we have hundreds of thousands of such shells. We have not used them yet," Putin was quoted as saying by the news agency.

Depleted uranium is what is left over after natural uranium has been enriched, either for weapons-making or for reactor fuel, according to BBC.

Earlier this week, the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed it would provide Kyiv with the armour-piercing rounds but insisted they had a low radiation risk. The ministry said depleted uranium "is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons". "The British Army has used depleted uranium in its armour-piercing shells for decades."

The UK said Russia knew this but was deliberately trying to disinform. "Independent research by scientists from groups such as the Royal Society has assessed that any impact to personal health and the environment from the use of depleted uranium munitions is likely to be low."

Ever since Russia launched the war, Moscow has on many occasions issued veiled threats of a nuclear attack in case it was pushed to the edge by the West - which is backing Ukraine.    

BBC reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said sending depleted uranium ammunition to Ukraine would mean the UK was "ready to violate international humanitarian law as in 1999 in Yugoslavia". "There is no doubt this will end badly for London," Lavrov said.