Belarus operating Russian Iskander missiles autonomously: Minsk

Ukraine fears Belarus may be part of the warfare after a flurry of army drills with Russian forces.

Russian long-range high-precision Iskander missile launchers participate in a army parade throughout celebrations marking Independence Day in Minsk July 3, 2014 [File: Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters]

Belarus mentioned on Wednesday that its armed forces had been now in autonomous management of Russian-supplied nuclear-capable Iskander mobile-guided missile programs after finishing coaching in Russia, in addition to workouts on dwelling soil.

The missiles are able to hitting targets at a spread of as much as 500km (310 miles), Minsk’s defence ministry mentioned.

The commander of Belarusian rocket and artillery forces instructed Minsk’s Navy TV that they'd till now lacked a strike weapon with a spread of greater than 300km (186 miles).

Russian troops participate in drills at an unspecified location in Belarus [File: Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP]

In feedback posted on Navy TV’s Telegram channel, Ruslan Chekhov praised the Iskander for its “simplicity of use, reliability, manoeuvrability and firepower”.

Russian forces used Belarus as a launch pad for his or her abortive assault on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in February final yr, and a latest flurry of joint army exercise in Belarus has fanned hypothesis that Moscow could also be leaning on Minsk to affix its warfare in Ukraine – one thing Minsk has dominated out.

The Iskander-M, codenamed “SS-26 Stone” by NATO, changed the Soviet “Scud”.

Its vary reaches deep into Belarus’s neighbours Ukraine and NATO member Poland, whose relations with Belarus are badly strained.