Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Kremlin has repeatedly employed nuclear threats to deter countries from arming Ukraine. This extreme tactic has proven highly effective against risk-averse Western leaders, who have deliberately slow-walked the flow of weapons to Ukraine for fear of provoking a nuclear response. Such caution could have
Vladimir Putin’s plans to place nuclear weapons in Belarus are opposed by the vast majority of Belarusians and will make the country a potential target in Russia’s escalating confrontation with the West, says Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. In a statement marking the thirty-seventh anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster on April 26, Tsikhanouskaya said 74
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed his Belarusian counterpart Alyaksandr Lukashenka to Moscow in early April for two days of talks. In their public remarks, both men avoided the topic of nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, Russia’s plans to place nukes in Belarus loomed large over this latest meeting between the two dictators. Days earlier, Putin had made
As Russia continues its assault on Ukraine, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) is keeping a close eye on Russia’s movements across the military, cyber, and information domains. With more than seven years of experience monitoring the situation in Ukraine—as well as Russia’s use of propaganda and disinformation to undermine the United States, NATO,
