Overview
- The exercises ran from May 19 to May 21 and focused on the operation of both strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, Russian officials said.
- The Russian Defense Ministry reported that nuclear warheads were transported into Belarus as part of the drills and that test launches of intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missiles were conducted.
- Both countries’ defense ministries said ballistic-missile launch training took place on May 21 as one element of the three-day exercise.
- President Vladimir Putin joined Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko by videoconference to declare the mission fully accomplished and to urge higher training standards for nuclear forces.
- All key claims come from Russian and Belarusian official statements and have not been independently verified; the exercises also serve as a show of force directed at NATO and as a domestic signal of military readiness.