Russia pressures Belarus in bid to open new front in Ukraine War, WSJ reports

Earlier this year, Moscow started a pressure campaign on Belarus in hopes of using it as a springboard to expand Russia's war in Ukraine or to launch nonconventional operations against members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said former and current Russian and European officials. The move signals that Moscow might be weighing a risky escalation in the war as its army struggles to advance in eastern Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin faces faltering domestic support more than four years into the conflict. Officials say Belarus, where Moscow bases tactical nuclear weapons, could be a crucial player in that plan.