Video: Russia Puts Oreshnik Missile System on Combat Duty in Belarus
On December 30, Russia's Defense Ministry announced that the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile system has entered combat duty in Belarus.
The ministry released footage showing the ceremony marking the deployment of a unit equipped with the missile system.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, launch crews, communications specialists, security and power supply personnel, as well as vehicle mechanics, underwent retraining prior to assuming combat duty. The ministry stated that all necessary conditions for service and accommodation of Russian servicemen have been created in Belarus.
The unit's personnel are currently mastering new combat patrol areas, the statement said.
A deputy commander of the military unit, whose name was not disclosed, said that daily combat and tactical training sessions are being conducted, and that the personnel have already demonstrated their professionalism during scheduled exercises.
RIA Novosti reported that the Oreshnik system was shown publicly for the first time in the footage released by the Defense Ministry. The video showed the raising of Russian and Belarusian flags and the flags of the missile forces of both countries, as well as the deployment and camouflage of the system in forested areas of Belarus.
"The flight time to any point in Europe is just a couple of minutes,” the Military Observer Telegram channel commented on the deployment.
Oreshnik May Have Been Deployed in Eastern Belarus
Earlier, Reuters reported that the Oreshnik system was likely deployed at the Krichev-6 airbase in the Mogilev Region of eastern Belarus, approximately five kilometers from the Russian border.
The airfield is located about 180 kilometers from Ukraine, 370 kilometers from Latvia, 400 kilometers from Lithuania, and 540 kilometers from Poland.
According to the report, the deployment could significantly enhance Russia's ability to strike targets across Europe. Satellite imagery reportedly shows accelerated construction of facilities typical of a strategic missile base.
Belarusian First Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Muraveiko said that operational areas for the Oreshnik system have been designated in Belarus.
"Combat crews are undergoing coordination and geodetic alignment so that the system can be deployed and used. All these activities form a set of measures aimed at reducing missile launch preparation time,”
Muraveiko noted that deployment time can vary depending on readiness and other factors, but stressed that it amounts to only minutes.
Meanwhile, Colonel Andrei Bogodel, deputy head of the General Staff faculty at the Belarusian Military Academy, described the deployment of Russia's latest missile system in Belarus as a signal to the West of Minsk's readiness to defend peace using available means.
He expressed the view that in the current environment, "any good must have fists,” adding that today the world cannot be organized in any other way.
