Well, howdy there, Internet people, it spell again.

So today, we're going to talk about Trump and Putin's nukes.

We'll go over the news, why this matters, and why the systems were previously banned.

And then we'll get into what it means for a myth that continues to linger in the

U.S. First, the news. Putin has reportedly deployed the Oreschnik system in Belarus. The Oreschnik is an

intermediate range ballistic missile system that is nuclear capable.

As the name suggests, it's meant to hit targets at an intermediate range.

But that's a relative term.

All of Europe is in range of the system, but they were in range of the systems in Russia already.

That's the core issue. Intermediate range

missiles are about time. They compress decision windows. They shorten warning times.

They make it easier for a crisis to turn into a catastrophe because leaders have fewer minutes

to figure out whether something is a signal,

a bluff, a conventional strike, or the opening move of something nuclear. Orrashnik in particular

is being described in public reporting as extremely fast and difficult to intercept. And Russia has framed it as a strategic tool

meant to deter Western support for Ukraine.

Belarus sits right on NATO's doorstep,

close to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia,

and not far from other key European locations. When systems like this move

west, the distance that used to buy diplomats' time gets eaten up. That has two immediate effects.

First, it forces NATO to think more seriously about air and missile defense posture on the eastern flank.

Not because defenses are perfect, they aren't, but because allies will feel compelled to reduce vulnerability and reassure frontline states.

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