Army Recognition:

The training of Belarusian personnel on the use of the Iskander in Russia had begun the day before, according to some sources. And Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly announced that Russia will complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus by forthcoming July, sparking fierce international criticism.

In late 2020, Russia deployed several Iskander-M ballistic missile systems to Belarus for military exercises. This deployment sparked concerns among neighboring countries and raised tensions in the region. Belarus is a close ally of Russia, and the two countries have a mutual defense agreement. Russian officials stated that the deployment of the Iskander missiles was part of routine military exercises and was not meant to threaten any other countries. However, neighboring countries such as Poland and Lithuania expressed concern over the deployment and called for increased NATO presence in the region.

The 9K720 Iskander (NATO reporting name: SS-26 Stone) is a mobile short-range ballistic missile system produced and deployed by the Russian military. They travel at a terminal hypersonic speed of 2,100–2,600 m/s (Mach 6–7) and can reach an altitude of 50 km as they range up to 500 km. The missile systems were intended to replace by 2020 the supposedly-obsolete OTR-21 Tochka systems in the Russian military.

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