Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed on Thursday, December 18, 2025, that the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile system, supplied by the Russian Armed Forces, has already been deployed and is now on combat duty on Belarusian territory. “We have had it since yesterday, and it is already on combat duty,” the head of state stated during an address to the nation and Parliament, broadcast by official state media.
The confirmation follows the joint strategic exercise Zapad-2025, held in September, during which Belarus had already announced that it had practiced the deployment of the Oreshnik system. In that context, Belarusian Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Muraveiko noted that the drills included both the emplacement of the missiles and the simulation of the launch of “non-strategic” nuclear weapons.
The Oreshnik missile is an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic system capable of carrying nuclear warheads. According to information released by Russian authorities, the system can strike targets located thousands of kilometers away with a limited margin of error. The weapon was publicly unveiled in late 2024, when it was used in an attack against a military factory in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
Parallel to Lukashenko’s announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Oreshnik missile will enter service with the Russian Armed Forces before the end of the year, while Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov indicated that Russia already has a brigade equipped with this system. Putin claimed that the missile is “impossible to intercept” and possesses a destructive capability comparable to that of an atomic bomb.
However, these claims have been questioned by Western experts, who view the assessments of its invulnerability and destructive power as exaggerated. Russia had already deployed tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus in 2023, further consolidating military cooperation between the two countries. Belarus, a former Soviet republic, is considered a strategic ally of Moscow, and its territory was used by Russia to launch its military offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.
Background to the deployment
In October, Russian media had reported that Belarus would once again host the deployment of the Oreshnik system during the month of December. The information was attributed to Natalya Eismont, spokesperson for the Belarusian president, who stated that preparations were in their final stages. Lukashenko had justified the decision as a response to what he described as escalation by the West.
The Oreshnik missile was used for the first time in November 2024, when Russia employed it against a defense plant in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. On that occasion, Vladimir Putin stated that the strike had been authorized as retaliation for Ukraine’s use of long-range U.S. and British missiles on Russian territory. He later warned that further attacks could follow, including against “decision-making centers” in Kyiv, should such actions continue.
With the confirmed deployment in Belarus, the Oreshnik system becomes part of Russia’s operational military posture in Eastern Europe, amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and rising tensions between Moscow and Western countries.
Images for illustrative purposes.
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