Nuclear-capable missile system 'active' in Belarus, claims Russia

Russia said its latest nuclear-capable missile system had been deployed in Belarus, a day after Moscow claimed Ukraine carried out a drone attack on Vladimir Putin's residence.

- Luke Harding

Footage released by Russia's ministry of defence showed the Oreshnik missile trundling through a snowy forest. Soldiers were seen disguising combat vehicles with netting and raising a flag at an airbase in eastern Belarus, close to the Russian border.

The video appeared to be part of a choreographed attempt to intimidate Europe and to prepare Russians for a further escalation in the already brutal war against Ukraine. The deployment symbolically reduces the time it would take for a Russian missile to hit an EU capital.

The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, said 10 Oreshnik systems would be stationed in his country. Putin announced they were entering active service at a meeting on Monday with his generals, where he reaffirmed his intention to capture more Ukrainian territory, including the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, warned earlier that "reprisals" would be carried out against Kyiv, with targets already prepared, after what he said was an attack on Sunday night involving 91 Ukrainian drones on the Russian president's palace in the Novgorod region.