Everything is going according to plan,” the Russian leader told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko when discussing the planned nuclear deployment on Friday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday (9 June) announced that Moscow will deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus once special storage facilities are ready on 7-8 July, marking the country's first deployment of such weapons outside of Russia since the Soviet Union's collapse.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) posted a one-and-a-half minute audio clip on its Telegram channel of the alleged conversation, which featured two men who appeared to be discussing the fallout from the disaster in Russian.

The preparation of the facilities for the storage of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus will end on 7-8 July. With this stage completed, Russia will immediately launch activities related to the deployment of these types of weapons,

Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday confirmed that nuclear weapons would be deployed in Belarus after facilities to house them are finished in early July. It's the first nukes deployment outside Russia since 1991.

Russia will start deploying tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus after special storage facilities are made ready on July 7-8, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, Moscow's first move of such warheads outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.