Russia to give Belarus nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles
Iskander-M missiles have been used heavily against Ukraine and have already been deployed to Belarus during the buildup to the invasion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Saturday that Russia would provide Belarus with nuclear-capable Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile systems.
At a meeting in Saint Petersburg on Saturday, Putin announced the transfer alongside Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko who has grown closer to Moscow after it helped quell domestic unrest over his decades-long control of the country. According to a Reuters report, Lukashenko asked for a “symmetrical response” to claimed nuclear-armed flights by NATO aircraft near Belarusian borders.
Putin also floated the possibility of upgrading Belarusian Air Force Su-25 Frogfoots to carry nuclear weapons. This was an interesting statement as one could argue Belarus’s MiG-29s would have been a better choice for such a role. It’s not clear based on either leader’s statements exactly how this transfer or command control over these weapons and their potential nuclear warheads would work,
Belarus inherited 81 Soviet SS-25 “Sickle” road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and an unknown number of tactical nuclear weapons after the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991, according to a fact sheet from the Nuclear Threat Initiative. It returned the tactical nuclear weapons to Russia by May 1993, the ICBM warheads by November 1996, and has otherwise not been a nuclear weapons state.
Russia and Belarus are growing increasingly indistinguishable since Russian troops and equipment deployed to the former Soviet republic ahead of their invasion of Ukraine. Russian forces then used Belarus to invade Ukraine and launch missile attacks on the country. There have been fears, especially early in the invasion, that Belarus could become involved in the conflict directly, potentially launching another prong of the invasion into the northwestern part of Ukraine. This is still a possibility, especially considering the news that Russia could arm the country with nuclear weapons. It’s also worth noting that Russian Iskander missiles were part of the months-long buildup to war in Ukraine and have been in Belarus since at least January and have been fired into Ukraine from there.
The Trumpet carefully watches the development of this new Russian empire because of its understanding of Bible prophecy. Revelation 9:16 describes Asia amassing a colossal army of 200 million troops, 15 times the size of the largest army ever assembled in human history. It is described as conducting operations during a third world war that will dwarf all world wars and other military conflicts of the 20th century, combined. Ezekiel 38 and 39 show that at the helm of this gargantuan force will be a man called the “prince” of Russia.
Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has identified Vladimir Putin as this prince. In his 2017 booklet The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia,’ he writes: “This world has a lot of authoritarian rulers. But Vladimir Putin is one we need to keep a particularly close eye on. His track record, his nationality and his ideology show that he is fulfilling a linchpin Bible prophecy. The time frame of his rule also shows that nobody else could be fulfilling the Ezekiel 38 and 39 prophecy.”
Mr. Flurry’s booklet explains that Putin’s leadership of Russia, including his conquest of former Soviet nations like Belarus, shows that the world is barreling toward a time of violence and calamity far worse than anything in humanity’s calamitous history!
But Mr. Flurry emphasizes that there is also great hope laced into these prophecies. He writes that the fact Putin is now leading the nation proves that the most hope-filled event in mankind’s history is close. “What we are seeing in Russia ultimately leads to the transition from man ruling man to God ruling man!” he writes. “And it is almost here! It is just a few short years away.”
