Ukraine tightens border security as Russia says nuclear weapons were sent to Belarus for training

Kyiv – Ukraine is using “enhanced security measures in the northern regions” near its border with Belarus as Russia engages in nuclear drills with its closest ally, with Moscow saying “nuclear weapons have been delivered” to storage facilities.

Kyiv announced a tightening of security on its northern border on Thursday after weeks of warning of new attacks from Belarus, Russia's main regional ally.

Kyiv has expressed concern that Russia could use Belarus – which it used as a base to launch its ongoing, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – to launch a new offensive from the north, including the capital Kyiv.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said its units and the military are “conducting a wide range of enhanced security measures in the northern regions of our country.”

The measures – which include increased checks and control of individuals and buildings – “will serve as an effective deterrent to any hostile actions or operations by the enemy and their allies,” the SBU statement said.

The Kremlin on Monday dismissed Ukraine's accusations that it wanted to drag Belarus into the war as “an attempt to further incite.”

But on Thursday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that, “as part of a nuclear exercise” taking place with Belarus, “nuclear weapons were brought to the storage facility of the nuclear weapons industry. [Russian] position of missile brigade” in the country.

A video posted Thursday on social media by Belarus' Ministry of Defense, which appears to have been produced by Russia's Ministry of Defense, shows a truck driving through a forest and removing what it says are nuclear weapons.

The Russian military said the missile forces in Belarus are conducting training to receive weapons for the Iskander-M tactical missile launch systems, including exercises to load weapons onto launch vehicles and move them secretly in preparation for the intended launch.

Speaking on Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the alliance was monitoring the Russia-Belorussian drills and warned that its response to any Russian nuclear attack would be “brutal,” according to the Kyiv Independent.

There has been little significant change in the route of the war, now in its fifth yearin recent months, although the forces of Ukraine – using drone military technology – according to many reports, have been able to at least reduce the level of Russian infiltration.

A Wall Street Journal report published this week noted that Ukraine had in fact “come to a standstill with Russia's largest military force in recent months, gaining in intelligence and technology,” but warned that it was too close to declaring the war had reached a “strategic stage.”