Belarus announced that its forces practiced deploying Russia’s Oreshnik missile system during joint military exercises with Moscow, marking the first known training with the weapon system outside Russia.
The Oreshnik is a Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile, first used operationally against Ukraine on 21 November 2024, in a strike on the missile production facility in the city of Dnipro. It flies at hypersonic speeds around 10-11 Mach and carries multiple independently targetable warheads, although the warheads in this attack were reportedly dummy and non-explosive, likely serving as a political signal rather than causing massive destruction.
Pavel Muraveyko, Chief of General Staff and First Deputy Defense Minister of Belarus, told the Belarusian state agency BELTA that forces “worked out all assigned tasks” during the Zapad 2025 exercises, according to Evropeyska Pravda.
“Among the notable activities, I can highlight the planning and consideration of non-strategic nuclear weapons use, assessment and deployment of the mobile rocket complex ‘Oreshnik’. We extensively used drones in various configurations,” Muraveyko said.
The Belarusian official emphasized that cooperation with Russians, who possess “fresh combat experience,” allows the Belarusian army to receive “the most modern, most advanced information.”
Russia deployed the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile only once in combat against Ukraine, striking Dnipro in November 2024. Shortly after that attack, self-proclaimed Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that Moscow would transfer such systems to Belarus.
The Russian-Belarusian Zapad exercises began at the end of last week, running from 12-16 September across territories in Russia and Belarus, as well as in the Baltic and Barents seas, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The military drills prompted neighboring countries to take security measures. Poland completely closed its border with Belarus on the evening of 11 September, with Warsaw noting that the exercises’ conclusion would not automatically mean border reopening. Latvia’s Seim voted to fully close borders with both Russia and Belarus during the maneuvers.
Finland warned that Russia’s military exercises could have “unexpected turns.”