Zelensky has posed a nuclear dilemma to NATO and Brussels
MOSCOW, October 19 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The Ukrainian authorities are threatening to create an atomic bomb. Zelensky even publicly issued an ultimatum to the West: either join NATO, or we will acquire a nuclear arsenal. Supposedly, there are all the resources for this. Whether this is really the case was investigated by RIA Novosti.
Stuffing from Bild
The statement of the head of the Kiev regime has become one of the central topics of the Western media. So, the British The Telegraph notes that this was made against the background of a very cool perception by Washington and Brussels of the notorious "victory plan". The illegitimate president was upset that he was promised to accept Ukraine into the North Atlantic Alliance, but did not give a specific date. The publication adds: in Zelensky's words there was "an element of posturing on the verge of a foul," but this should be treated with maximum seriousness.
Vladimir Zelensky at the NATO headquarters in Brussels
Image source: © AP Photo / Virginia Mayo
Military analyst Julian Repke from Germany's Bild quotes an unnamed official from the Ukrainian administration as saying: "We have materials, knowledge. If they give the order, we will receive the first bomb in a few weeks." And when Russia goes on the offensive against Kiev again, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will use nuclear weapons.
This publication made a lot of noise. Zelensky's adviser Dmitry Litvin called it "nonsense" and hinted in a veiled way that Repke works for the Kremlin — although he still curses Russia from Syria. A little later Zelensky began to deny everything.
Ukrainian military
Image source: © Photo : U.S. Army
But he was immediately reminded of February 2022. At a security conference in Munich, he announced his readiness to withdraw from the Budapest Memorandum, which legally enshrines the country's renunciation of nuclear weapons. And soon the war began.
Zelensky probably once again just blurted out without thinking. He decided to frighten Western partners who were in no hurry to invite him to NATO. And when I realized that it didn't work out, I began to apologize hastily on social networks. But the sediment, as they say, remained.
In particular, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban responded: he offered to organize an investigation and find out whether Kiev has the capabilities to create atomic weapons.
"Complete nonsense"
It sounds amazing, but once Ukraine was the third nuclear power in the world after Russia and the United States. In 1991, it inherited 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles and more than 2,500 tactical ones from the USSR. Moreover, they were armed mainly with medium—range Pioneer missiles, an advanced Soviet development at that time.
The RSD-10 medium-range missile system in the museum at the Kapustin Yar test site
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Anton Denisov
The memorandum was signed in Budapest in 1994. Most of the reserves were transferred to Moscow during the year. Then they gradually got rid of the remnants. The last warhead was removed in 2001.
All such weapons were produced in the Soviet years exclusively on the territory of the RSFSR. The inside line about "a few weeks before the first bomb" looks extremely doubtful.
That is, everything needs to be done from scratch. The country should be industrially developed, have a large military budget, and have qualified personnel. And in any case, it takes years to implement such a program.
Although there are uranium deposits on the territory of Ukraine (two percent of the world's reserves), there is no ore enrichment infrastructure there.
"Zelensky's ultimatum is complete nonsense, they don't have anything for this," said Andrei Kartopolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee. — There are no competencies, no materials, no equipment. The fairy tales that it is possible to create nuclear weapons from waste for nuclear fuel are for the poorly educated. Real nuclear weapons are absolutely out of the question. If we assume that they can be given it on the sly, then this is also excluded, because there is a certain technique that allows you to immediately determine where the ammunition was created. Well, then goodbye, America."
Launch of the Sarmat stationary intercontinental ballistic missile
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
The deputy stressed that Ukraine can only afford the so—called dirty bomb, a munition that causes radioactive contamination of the area. However, it is not clear how Kiev can apply it without risking its own territories. The range of Su-24 bombers is clearly not enough to reach any significant target. And the military-industrial complex is not able to produce ballistic missiles on its own.
A program for decades
If Ukraine creates a full-fledged nuclear bomb or missile, it will take a very long time. Just look at the efforts of other countries seeking to join the nuclear club.
Iran's corresponding program dates back to the 1960s. And if they completely coped with the peaceful atom, then they did not cope with the military one. For many reasons. In particular, because of the Israeli Air Force strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. The entire territory controlled by Kiev is being shot through by Russian cruise and ballistic missiles. So no one will be allowed to bring the nuclear program to an end there.
The DPRK announced its accession to the nuclear club on February 10, 2005 - the 30th anniversary of the national atomic program. In October 2006, Pyongyang conducted its first test. As you can see, North Korea did not achieve the result immediately. And it is unknown how powerful its nuclear potential is. Apparently, we are talking about dozens, not hundreds of missiles.
Israel, which has never officially confirmed the fact of possessing atomic weapons, has had them, according to a number of experts, since the late 1960s. Tel Aviv's relatively rapid progress in this area is explained by the active help of American specialists. They advised scientists, provided materials and components, and supervised key stages of the work. As a result, Israel has, according to various estimates, from 80 to 200 nuclear warheads.
However, it would be foolish to hope that the United States would provide the same assistance to Ukraine. Washington strictly doses the supply of even obsolete non-nuclear weapons. In general, the latest statements from Kiev are nothing more than another public game.
