An expert has said that Vladimir Putin could use Belarus to launch nuclear weapons which would “wipe Ukraine of the map.”

To test the West’s resolve Putin could use his ally Alexander Lukashenko as a proxy to strike Kyiv as the Russian leader has been warned by NATO and the US this would “be catastrophic” for Moscow.

Dr Yuri Felshtinsky believes that the world is now at the “beginning of World War Three” and “knowing Putin” he “probably would try to move nuclear weapons to Belarus.”

Dr Felshtinsky told The Sun Online, “We are in 1939, 1940 now and February 24 will be written in history books as the beginning of [World War III]

“This was our September 1, 1939.

“The question is, how will this war continue and how much will we pay for it?”

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The author of Blowing up Ukraine added, “Knowing Putin and knowing how he looks for unconventional ways to deal with it, he probably would try to move nuclear weapons to Belarus.

“No one is talking about Belarus and the reason why I think no one is talking about Belarus is, because there is of course an order not to talk about it, but also because Putin has plans to use nuclear weapons to strike from there.”

Lukashenko announced on Monday that Belarus and Russia will deploy thousands of troops in a joint military task force in response to the attack on the Kerch bridge in Crimea on Saturday.

Belarus which is de-facto part of Russia has been used as a staging post since the start of the war and Lukashenko claims there has been aggravation on the western borders.

Dr Felshtinsky said, “Both the Russian and Belarus governments allow themselves to frighten and blackmail the entire Europe and Ukraine first of all with nuclear strike.”

Lukashenko is also allowing Putin to stage a potential offensive in Ukraine and it is expected that the Kremlin could “call up 500,000 mobilised soldiers by the end of the year” as Putin “wants to deploy a grouping of troops in Belarus.”

The Belarusian dictator ordered Belarusian railway workers to prepare the infrastructure as there will be a large number of trains carrying tens of thousands of troops and military hardware.

Dr Felshtinsky continued, “Russia has no conventional army and the only way to lift the nuclear threat, the West or NATO or both, must concentrate on Belarus because I don’t believe Putin will use nuclear weapons from Russian territory.

“This would be absolutely suicidal for him.

“I would concentrate on Belarus and try to take Belarus out of Putin’s control.”

Dr Felshtinksy said the only way to stop the Russian leader is to deliver Russia a “decisive defeat” as seen during the Second World War.

He added to The Sun Online, “When I say decisively, I mean the level of capitulation which Germany faced in 1945 or which Japan faced in 1945.”

Ukraine does have “all rights to strike preventively against Belarus and Russia” while there is war.”

He concluded, “This war for Putin is against EU, Nato, Europe and the USA.

“In order to stop it within Ukrainian borders, we need to help Ukraine as much as we can with weapons and money.

“We need to give the Ukrainian army free hands to conduct this was the way which leads to the victory over Putin.”