Force move on NATO's eastern flank, announced by Moscow. Nuclear ammunition for Iskander-M missile systems delivered to Belarus

Russia has delivered nuclear munitions to warehouses in Belarus, as part of large-scale nuclear exercises, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Belarus borders several NATO member states, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, between these states there is a land border of 1,250 km, which is the eastern limit of the territory of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The three-day nuclear exercise, which began on Tuesday and is taking place on the territory of Russia and Belarus, comes at a time when Moscow is engaged in what it describes as an existential struggle with the West over Ukraine.

“As part of the exercise of the nuclear forces, nuclear munitions were delivered to the depots in the missile brigade positioning zone of the Republic of Belarus,” the ministry in Moscow said.

Russia said the Belarusian missile unit was conducting training to receive special munitions for the Iskander-M mobile tactical missile system, including loading the munitions onto launch vehicles and secretly moving to a designated area for launch preparation.

Footage released by Moscow's Defense Ministry showed a truck driving through a forest and unloading an object. It was not clear what was being downloaded.

The Iskander-M, a mobile guided missile system codenamed “SS-26 Stone” by NATO, replaced the Soviet “Scud” missile. Its guided missiles have a range of up to 500 km and can carry conventional or nuclear warheads.

Throughout the war in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin has invoked Russia's nuclear power as a warning to the West not to go too far in supporting Kiev.

The Kremlin slammed the Lithuanian foreign minister's remarks on Wednesday as “bordering on madness” after Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said NATO must prove to Moscow that it is capable of penetrating the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Kaliningrad is located between Lithuania and Poland, both NATO members, on the coast of the Baltic Sea. It has a population of around 1 million and is heavily militarized, serving as the headquarters of Russia's Baltic Fleet.