ON BRINK
‘Nuclear apocalypse is around the corner,’ warns Lukashenko as he moves troops to Poland border amid standoff with West
It comes after Russia vowed to target Nato nuclear sites in Poland
BELARUS has moved its battle-ready forces closer to Poland's border in a chilling move against the West.
President Aleksandr Lukashenko also warned that a rising standoff against his nation and ally Vlad's Russia could result in a nuclear "apocalypse".
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In reaction to a NATO build-up across the border, the long-serving dictator of Belarus said on Thursday that troops had been deployed from Vitebsk, near Russia, to the western end of the country.
Time is ticking as the Belarusian despot, 69, revealed his men will reach the border with the crucial NATO country in a matter of hours.
Lukashenko said: "From Vitebsk we’ve transferred a couple of battalions and are [now] standing head to head with NATO.
“These battalions are at full operational readiness, with a readiness of three hours from leaving their place of deployment.
"Three hours and we’re there.”
Lukashenko also said that NATO was "raising the temperature of hostility" towards Belarus and Russia by constructing additional aerodromes, military bases, and naval facilities, as well as by expanding into Sweden and Finland.
The tension meant that “any incautious word or movement could cause an open armed conflict, right up to the use of nuclear weapons”.
Speaking on Washington's decision to provide $61 billion in military aid to Kyiv, Lukashenko charged that the crisis had been escalated and prolonged by Ukraine's western supporters.
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“They have also converted Ukraine into a drug addict, who is kept on a short leash with promises of a new dose of additional weapons, including long-range weapons and financial infusions,” he said.
The fact that the US is now giving Ukraine longer-range weapons is "extremely dangerous," according to Lukashenko.
US secretly sends missiles to Ukraine able to hit deep inside Russia… & they've already been used to wipe out airbase
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He added: “And if the situation becomes threatening for the internal situation in Russia, Russia will use the entire arsenal which it has. And that will be apocalypse.”
But the Belarusian president pledged that his country would not attack Poland, declaring: “We’re not planning to fight them … We don’t need that."
The war in Ukraine, according to Putin's ally, is posing an increasing threat to Belarus's security and raising the possibility of military clashes over the shared border.
He claimed that opposition forces are planning to take control of a large area and make a NATO aid request and that 120,000 Ukrainian troops were stationed around the Belarusian border.
Speaking at the Seventh Belarusian People’s Congress in Minsk, he said: "The main real risk is having a hot spot in the region, in Ukraine, of course.
“Washington is doing everything to drag our country into the conflict, to launch a mechanism to involve other states into it; in other words, to weaken both western Europe and eastern Europe.”
Lukashenko' s inflammatory remarks suggest that Moscow and Minsk could be upset that Washington has approved more military aid to Kyiv.
Three hours and we’re there
Aleksandr Lukashenko
It comes as US has secretly given "game-changing" long-range ballistic missiles to Ukraine - a move that will leave Russian troops "terrified".
Washington only announced yesterday that it had secretly shipped ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) to Ukraine as part of a former aid package that arrived last month.
Former US General Ben Hodges spoke to The Sun today about the shift in battle dynamics.
He said the American ATACMS will now play a "critical role" in the war by "neutralising Russia’s only advantage - mass, [being] lots of soldiers".
The former commander of the US Army in Europe told The Sun: "Now every square meter of Russian-occupied Ukraine is within range of ATACMS...which means that every HQ, logistics site, key weapon system and airfield in that area can be hit."
Under an agreement reached with President Putin last year, the head of Belarus stated that "several dozen" Russian tactical nuclear weapons had been stationed in Belarus.
Lukashenko asserted that there was a deadlock in Ukraine and that talks were warranted in spite of his ominous predictions.
“I know the mood of the Ukrainian soldiers. They are already fed up with this war. If Ukraine doesn’t engage in [peace] talks, it could lose its statehood and could cease to exist,” he told delegates.
“Ukraine needs peace.”
Belarus has always been a Kremlin friend, cheerfully allowing Putin to store his weapons closer to Europe's powerhouses.
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Lukashenko has been happy to home nukes in his country as the US "has been doing this for decades", said Putin last year.
He said: "There is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries."
"We agreed that we will do the same - without violating our obligations, I emphasise, without violating our international obligations on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons."
Russia has stationed 10 aircraft in Belarus capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, it has been said.
VLAD WON'T STOP
It comes after Rishi Sunak's chilling warning that Putin won't stop at the Poland border should the despot defeat Ukraine in the war.
Ahead of his two-day trip to Poland and Germany, the PM said: “Defending Ukraine against Russia’s brutal ambitions is vital for our security and for all of Europe.
“If Putin is allowed to succeed in this war of aggression, he will not stop at the Polish border.”
But Poland has already given the green light as they're ready to host nuclear weapons on their borders if needed.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said his country will take up nuclear arms if they are asked to by NATO as they look for somewhere to deploy weapons and respond to Putin's latest chilling threats.
The despot and his Kremlin cronies have been stocking up on their worrying warfare as they started to reinforce their armoury in Belarus and Kaliningrad.
We’re not planning to fight them [Poland] … We don’t need that.
Aleksandr Lukashenko
Duda said on Monday: "Russia is increasingly militarising Kaliningrad. Recently it has been relocating its nuclear weapons to Belarus.
"If our allies decide to deploy nuclear arms on our territory as part of nuclear sharing, to reinforce NATO's eastern flank, we are ready to do so.
"I've already talked about it several times. I must admit that when asked about it, I declared our readiness."
Poland sits in a crucial position as the NATO nation shares a border with Belarus and the Russian military playground of Kaliningrad.
Ukraine has always been reassured they have Poland's full support if ever needed due to their position.
Duda also revealed in the chat that nuclear talks between Poland and the US have been ongoing for some time.
He told the newspaper Fakt that they would work with the US to navigate nuclear weapons if need be and keep Russia from causing anymore chaos in Europe.
Warsaw's move has provoked furious responses from the Kremlin, with Moscow warning that NATO's nuclear weapons and facilities will be targeted if they are deployed in Poland.
In a sneering statement, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that joint Nato nuclear missions near the Russian border would be considered a threat to its security.
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"Let alone permanent deployment [that] hotheads in Warsaw are speaking about," he adds, referring to the possible new nuclear deployment to Poland.
"Any steps in this direction will not add to Poland's security and relevant facilities will inevitably be a target. And they will be in the fore of our military planning," Ryabkov added.
PUTIN'S NUCLEAR THREATS
NATO is headed for a nuclear showdown with the rest as Nato could be considering moving nukes to Putin's doorstep.
Below is a timeline of some of the thinly veiled threats the Kremlin has made against the West since invading Ukraine two years ago.
Feb 24, 2022 - Vladimir Putin: “No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history."
March 26, 2022 - Putin crony Dmitry Medvedev: “We have a special document on nuclear deterrence. This document clearly indicates the grounds on which the Russian Federation is entitled to use nuclear weapons. … [This includes] when an act of aggression is committed against Russia and its allies."
April 20, 2022 - Vladimir Putin: “[The new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads] will force all who are trying to threaten our country in the heat of frenzied, aggressive rhetoric to think twice."
Feb 29, 2024 - Vladimir Putin: “They must understand that we also have weapons that can hit targets on their territory... All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?”
March 12, 2024 - Vladimir Putin declared that weapons like nukes "exist in order to use them".
A chilling nuclear war simulator has also revealed how a Russian nuclear strike could trigger a global conflict - killing 35 million people in just a matter of hours.
The model predicts a catastrophic war escalating from an initial Russian nuclear strike, which quickly draws in other powers.
Known as "Plan A", the four-minute animation aims to highlight the horrific potential consequences of conflict between Russia and NATO countries as all nations would fire strikes against one another.
The model predicts that almost 35 million people would die within hours - many of those in the first 45 minutes.
The trigger-happy tyrant has even started talking about how he could deploy nukes in space, saying that Russia can be "proud" of its work on a "nuclear power plant... for operation in space".
A bombshell warning from US intelligence in February suggested Vlad could be hoping to arm his existing anti-satellite weapon with nukes and launch it into space.
Last year, Putin was said to be readying a deadly 20,000mph "meteorite" hypersonic missile for combat.