Belarus launches air defence missiles in drills amid Putin’s tactical nuke plans

BELARUS’ defence ministry on Monday (March 27) released a video showing a training exercise involving an air defence unit armed with Russian-supplied Tor M2K missile launchers. The drill came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled plans to station Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, claiming it was a response to an announcement by the United Kingdom that it would hand over ammunition with depleted uranium to Ukrainian forces. According to Belarusian and Russian defence and industry sources, the system is capable of bringing down a variety of enemy targets, including cruise missiles, glided bombs, drones and aircraft. The delivery of the updated Tor M2K complexes to Belarus was reported in December 2022, with a new batch supplied in January 2023. Russian media reported that units operating Tor M2K were able to effectively destroy Bayraktar drones supplied to Ukraine by Turkey for use in what Moscow describes as its “special military operation&quo