MILAN — Russia and Belarus are expected to conduct a joint military exercise next month involving nuclear weapons and Russian-made hypersonic missiles, the Belarusian defense minister said last week.

During a recent press conference in Minsk, Viktor Khrenin declared that the planned “Zapad-2025″ training, to be held from September 12-16, would in part focus on operating the intermediate-range Oreshnik missile, used in Russian-launched attacks on Ukraine.

“This is an important element for our strategic deterrence – as the head of state demands, we must be prepared for anything,” Khrenin was quoted by Reuters as saying in an interview with the Belarusian state news agency Belta.

The first operational use of the Russian-manufactured missile was reported on November 21, 2024, after an attac

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