Belarusian aircraft are now capable of carrying Russian nuclear weapons, Belarusian Leader Alexander Lukashenko announced Friday, in an ominous signal over six months into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
His threatening announcement comes just days after he sent Ukraine a happy Independence Day message, when he made a point to wish the country “peaceful skies.”
Lukashenko, a longtime Putin ally, wished Ukrainians “peaceful skies, tolerance, courage, strength and success in restoring a decent life.”
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“I am convinced that today's contradictions will not be able to destroy the centuries-old sincere good-neighborly relations between the peoples of the two countries. Belarus will continue to stand up for the preservation of concord, development of friendly and mutually respectful contacts at all levels,” Lukashenko said on Wednesday, the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union, and, perhaps by coincidence, the six-month mark of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine earlier this year.
Ukraine rejected the “cynical” greeting from the Belarusian leader at the outset.
“Lukashenko truly believes that the world does not notice his participation in crimes against [Ukraine]. And that is why he cynically wishes ‘peaceful sky’ by shelling us,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said. “This blood-soaked clowning is recorded and will have consequences.”
News that the Belarusian Su-24 aircraft have been converted to carry Russian nukes coincides with efforts from Russia to give off the image that Moscow is bolstering Putin’s fighting forces in Ukraine. Putin issued an order earlier this week to plus up Russia’s armed forces by 137,000, with a goal to have a total of 1.15 million troops on the hook. It was not clear whether Putin would rely on drafting conscripts or finding volunteers.
But if history and eyewitness accounts are any guide, it might not make a difference. Earlier efforts in the war to recruit more fighters for Ukraine have not gone particularly smoothly. Russia announced an effort to recruit tens of thousands of fighters from the Middle East, an effort which a senior U.S. defense official said at the time did not appear to be true.
Russian military leaders have at times had to resort to beating commanders and threatening them to sign contracts or face other consequences, according to a series of complaints filed with the Russian military prosecutor's office throughout the war, which were obtained by the insider.
“We are really faced with the ‘lawlessness’ of the commanders of military units—the grandson of my girlfriend returned wounded and told how they were beaten by the commanders, forcing them to sign a contract,” Gavrilyuk Elena Nikolaevna said, according to The Insider. “I ask you to expedite investigations into already known facts, to identify those who fraudulently sent conscripts to certain death, and to judge everyone, regardless of rank and position, according to the laws of wartime.”
Another complaint suggests some military leadership in Russia has simply forged signatures to force Russians into service.
“My son served in the Belgorod region, since February 20 he has not been in touch. I have information that the commander does not release conscripts, threatens with desertion. In the military unit everyone knows about it, they forced the children to sign contracts, whoever turned out, forged the signature,” another complaint read.
Efforts and announcements like these to beef up Russia’s military will likely require a heavy lift from Russia if they’re going to actually come to fruition, according to Steven Pifer, a former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine.
“This is already the Russian military which they said had 1 million people, and most people said they probably have only about 800,000. And even if he does this, it’s going to take them months, years… to train them up,” Pifer told The Daily Beast. “And where is he going to get the equipment? A lot of the equipment has been destroyed, they’re now bringing T-62 tanks, which in some cases are 40-60 years old, out of old reserve stocks, and they’re not going to be able to I think produce a lot of modern stuff.”
Lukashenko’s announcement of the modified Su-24 aircraft in some ways seemed to be an effort to stave off criticism that the Russian war effort is lagging and that Lukashenko and Putin aren’t just throwing around empty promises.
“Some time ago, Putin and I announced in St. Petersburg that we were going to modify Belarusian Su-24 aircraft so they could carry nuclear weapons,” Lukashenko said, according to RIA Novosti, citing Sputnik Belarus. “You think we were just shooting our mouths off? It’s all ready!”
But even some Russian officials have admitted that the war effort is slowing down, and are working to come up with excuses to explain away criticism about why the effort is flagging. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu alleged the war effort is slowing its pace in order to try to avoid civilian casualties—a claim that hasn’t been true for the entirety of the war, as Russian forces have hit time and time again civilian structures, from maternity hospitals to shopping centers.
