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What Belarus's nuclear shift meant by 4 March 2022
Summary
A look back at the Belarusian decision to drop non-nuclear status and at the reported strike on Izium, as the invasion entered its second week.
What did the eighth day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine look like beyond the front lines? On 4 March 2022, two developments from the preceding days were shaping the picture: Belarus's move away from non-nuclear status, and a reported missile strike on Izium.
Belarus drops its non-nuclear status
Belarus confirmed on 28 February 2022 that it had revoked its status as a non-nuclear state. The change would allow the country to host and develop its own nuclear weapons. President Alexander Lukashenko said he could ask Russia to return nuclear missiles to Belarus if any nuclear weapons were transferred to Poland or Lithuania.
The change came through a constitutional referendum held on 27 February 2022, ordered by Lukashenko in January 2022. The proposed amendments also included allowing him to remain in office for further terms and empowering the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, an extra-parliamentary body composed mostly of state officials. The campaign took place while Russia had massed troops in both Russia and Belarus ahead of the invasion, and the vote itself was held several days after Russia began its offensive.
Deaths in Izium
On 3 March 2022, the eighth day of the invasion, eight civilians were killed in the city of Izium. The city's central hospital was reported to have been significantly damaged in a Russian missile strike.
Taken together, the two reports from those days show a war that was reaching civilian areas in Ukraine while the nuclear question was being raised in neighbouring Belarus.
