New Military Base Under Construction in Belarus May Host Russian Oreshnik Missiles

A new military installation is under construction in Belarus, which analysts caution may hold strategic significance for Russia in its ongoing war against Ukraine.

According to Radio Svoboda on September 10, construction began in June 2024 south of Minsk, near the village of Pavlivka. The site now spans more than 2 square kilometers—about the size of 280 football fields. Experts believe the complex may house Russia’s new “Oreshnik” ballistic missile system.

The discovery was made by journalists from Radio Svoboda “Schemes” project, who analyzed Planet Labs satellite images together with Radio Liberty Belarus Service and Estonian outlets Delfi Estonia and Eesti Ekspress. Their investigation also produced a detailed map of Belarusian military sites, including newly built and modernized Soviet-era bases and training grounds, many of which will be used during the joint Russia-Belarus Zapad-2025 drills scheduled for September 12–16.

Journalists traced it back to the former Soviet military base “Camp No. 25 Pavlivka,” once home to the Slutsk 306th Strategic Missile Bragade, Radio Svoda reported. The brigade was armed with R-12 intermediate-range ballistic missiles, as well as mobile “Pioneer” and “Topol” systems.

Belarus joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993, becoming the first country to renounce nuclear weapons inherited after the Soviet collapse. That year, the Slutsk brigade was withdrawn to Russia and disbanded. The base was dismantled, though some fortified structures, silos, bunkers, and launch pads remained abandoned.

Satellite imagery shows renewed activity from June 2024, with forest clearing and excavation. The most intensive phase came in 2025: over 1 square kilometer of forest was cleared, 13 ammunition depots built behind defensive walls, three 100-meter hangars erected, and foundations for additional structures laid, as reported by Radio Svoboda. The site is divided into four sectors connected by new roads, most already paved.

The northern section shows foundations, likely for hangars. In the eastern sector, a 150-meter-long building frame and earthworks are visible from space.

According to Radio Svoboda, Belarusian officials have not acknowledged the project. No official documents or land registry records mention the base. However, state TV channel “VoenTV” aired footage in May 2024 showing mine clearance at the site—without naming it.

Military analysts say the scale and layout of the construction suggest a strategic purpose. Polish defense expert Konrad Muzyka told Radio Svoboda Belarus Service: “In my view, these facilities are connected with some kind of strategic-level equipment that could be deployed in Belarus—whether the Oreshnik or something else. It could even be nuclear weapons, since this location once stored such arms during the Cold War.”

Retired Finnish intelligence officer Marko Eklund, who spent over 20 years studying Russia’s military, told Eesti Ekspress the facility resembles a strategic missile base: “I cannot see what else it could be. If an Oreshnik base were built here, this site would be suitable for the role.”

Earlier, new satellite imagery of the Khabarovsk Radio Engineering Plant revealed large-scale movement of air defense equipment in recent months, primarily involving Soviet-era S-300PS systems that have long been out of production, according to open-source intelligence analyst Athene Noctua.

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