VOA新闻杂志2023--Belarus Starts Deploying Russian Nuclear Weapons

Belarus Starts Deploying¹ Russian Nuclear Weapons

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country has started receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons. He added that some of them were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

The move is Russia's first deployment² of nuclear weapons outside the country after the fall of the Soviet³ Union. The shorter-range, less powerful nuclear weapons could possibly be used on the battlefield.

"We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia," Lukashenko told Russian state TV broadcaster Rossiya-1. "The bombs are three times more powerful than those (dropped on) Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Lukashenko spoke⁴ to the broadcaster in a forest clearing with military vehicles and some kind of military structure in the background. His comment was also posted on the Telegram account of Belarusian state news agency Belta.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would start deploying them in Belarus after storage facilities to house them were made ready. And Russia would keep control of the tactical nuclear weapons.

In March, the Russian leader said that the United States has deployed⁵ such weapons in several European countries over many years.

The U.S. has criticized Putin's decision but said it has not seen any signs that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon. The Russian move, however, is being watched closely by the U.S. and its allies. China, another nuclear power, has repeatedly warned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.

"We have always been a target"

Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, has ruled Belarus since 1994.

He has repeatedly accused Western nations of trying to oust⁶ him after mass protests against his rule took place in 2020. At the time, the opposition⁷ accused Lukashenko of cheating in the presidential election. Lukashenko said he had won fairly while suppressing his opponents.

The former Soviet Union official said he did not simply ask Putin for the weapons, but "demanded" them. "We have always been a target," Lukashenko said. "They (the West) have wanted to tear us to pieces since 2020. No one has so far fought against a nuclear country, a country that has nuclear weapons."

Lukashenko told Russian state TV that his country had several nuclear storage facilities left over from the days of the Soviet Union. He said five or six of them had been repaired.

He said Russian control of the weapons does not mean they cannot be used quickly. He noted⁸ that he and Putin could talk to each other "at any moment".

Lukashenko has permitted his country to be used by Russian forces to attack Ukraine. He now says that the nuclear deployment will act to prevent aggression⁹ from other countries.

Besides Ukraine, Belarus borders three NATO member countries: Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

Words in This Story

tactical – adj. relating to a specific plan to achieve a goal in war, politics...

facility - n. something that is built for a specific purpose

1 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

2 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

6 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。