The intelligence services revealed information concerning Russia in a report. According to them, while allocating enormous resources to the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also preparing for a long-term confrontation with NATO.
“Russia devotes enormous resources to the war in Ukraine and shows no desire to deescalate the situation, even if it fails to achieve its operational goals. At the same time, Russia is preparing for a long-term confrontation with NATO“, the State Security Department and the Defense Ministry’s Second Investigative Department said in their annual national security threat assessment report, released Thursday.
According to Vilnius, the Kremlin has initiated a major reform of its armed forces in order to expand its military potential in the Baltic Sea region.
Furthermore, the intelligence services emphasize that Belarus is developing a capacity to deploy nuclear weapons, which will be managed by Russia. Work is underway in Belarus to modernize and equip nuclear weapons storage infrastructure, according to the report.
“The Belarusian Armed Forces have two potential nuclear delivery systems: the Su-25 attack aircraft based at the Lida airbase near the Lithuanian border and the Iskander-M mobile missile systems installed at Asipovichy. Belarusian military personnel are trained to operate with non-strategic nuclear weapons (NSNW)“, specifies the information.
The report also states that the war cost Russia more than expected. Military spending in the first half of 2023 exceeded the amount officially budgeted for this entire year.
Military allocations will represent at least a third of the Russian state budget, or more than 10 trillion rubles, or 102 billion euros.