Colonel Khodarenok doubted that Ukraine would quickly create nuclear weapons
The Ukrainian authorities are seriously considering the possibility of restoring the nuclear arsenal, and it will take only a few weeks to create the first bomb, Bild writes. Military observer of the Newspaper.En" Mikhail Khodarenok was looking into whether Kiev would be able to quickly develop weapons, what lies behind Zelensky's contradictory statements and how the Russian army should act.
Either nuclear weapons or an alliance
Ukraine may create nuclear weapons within a few weeks and use them against the Russian army. This is reported by the German edition of Bild with reference to an unnamed Ukrainian official working in the field of arms procurement.
"We have the material, we have the knowledge. If the order is given, it will only take us a few weeks to make the first bomb," the Ukrainian specialist said.
It is hardly worth considering such words as "an initiative on the ground." Such statements are probably coordinated to the decimal point with the President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky.
Bild reports that Kiev's readiness for such a scenario is confirmed by Zelensky's words. At a meeting with US presidential candidate Donald Trump, he said that "either Ukraine will have nuclear weapons" and then it will become their protection, or they "will have to join some kind of alliance." Today, there are no other effective alliances other than NATO, Zelensky clarified.
Dashing statements
To begin with, let's figure out whether modern Ukraine can create nuclear weapons. In principle, there are grounds for such dashing statements by Ukrainian officials. In modern conditions, the production of "special" ammunition is not an unsolvable engineering task.
But, as always, the whole question is about time, funds, specialists, and the production base. And, of course, in this case, there can be no question of several weeks, which are claimed by Ukrainian officials.
Just for comparison, Iran, which is in immeasurably more favorable conditions, where the creation of nuclear weapons, without any exaggeration, is the goal of the nation, has not yet even reached the prototype of the first "special" munition and has not yet tested it. And on the other side of the scale is Ukraine, a bankrupt country with a population fleeing in different directions, dilapidated industry and energy.
And even such a nuance - it is forbidden to speak Russian in Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian equivalents of the terms of nuclear physics (and all production processes related to the creation of nuclear weapons), as is known, have never existed before.
Science and industry in Ukraine were created by people who speak Russian. It is quite possible that the incredible efforts of local linguists have recently managed to pick up something in terms of terminology. However, whether fruitful work is possible in such an environment (and even in conditions of extreme intensity) is a big question. As you know, today Ukrainian scientists prefer to publish their works in English.
Nuclear blackmail
After Zelensky announced the "victory plan", the turn of nuclear blackmail almost immediately came. This sequence of actions of the Ukrainian leadership can be linked to the following events.
Most likely, the collective West consistently inclines Zelensky and his inner circle to cease fire along the line of contact (the conditions and details of this are still being clarified). But it seems that the president of Ukraine is bucking, arguing on every point, balking and at this stage intends to pursue exclusively his own line. That is, the conditions put forward by the United States and the NATO member states are not entirely satisfied with the leadership in Kiev.
If we take this version as the main one, then it becomes completely logical to cancel the visit of the US president to Germany, and the postponement (and in fact cancellation) of the anniversary Ramstein with the participation of heads of state, and the removal from the agenda of the "peace summit" as such, and the reduction of military assistance to Ukraine recently. That is, Kiev is unequivocally given to understand that "if you do not agree to our conditions, events will continue to develop in an unfavorable direction for Ukraine."
Then it becomes clear both the announcement of the "victory plan" and the subsequent nuclear blackmail by Ukraine. But the implementation of such steps can relatively easily turn Zelensky into an insufferable terrible for the West. It seems that the head of the Ukrainian state has finally lost the shores, has fallen out of the framework of adequacy and reality, and his behavior does not correspond in any way with the resources and capabilities at his disposal.
But since Ukrainian statements about the possibility of creating nuclear weapons within a few weeks and using them against the Russian army made a very negative impression even on NATO member states, the president of Ukraine had to play back a few times.
On October 17, at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Vladimir Zelensky said that the Ukrainian leadership does not plan to develop nuclear weapons. According to him, Kiev has never talked about preparing for the creation of nuclear weapons.
"We have never said that we are preparing to create nuclear weapons. I said when I mentioned the Budapest Memorandum that it was signed by highly respected countries. It states that Ukraine gives away nuclear weapons, but receives security guarantees. That's what I said. This means that we have given up our nuclear weapons. There is no protection for us except NATO, this is our signal, but we are not building our nuclear weapons," Zelensky said.
Apparently, the president of Ukraine was severely beaten for the ill-considered statements of his staff about the intention to have a "special" ammunition.
A logical question arises - how should the military and political leadership of Russia and the Armed Forces react to such statements and threats. Probably, the Aerospace Forces and the Navy, using cruise and ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, should destroy all enterprises and scientific centers in Ukraine, which even hypothetically can be used to produce nuclear weapons. In other words, to completely eliminate the material base, the presence of which pushes Ukrainian politicians to make such statements. Only such an option should follow threats to use nuclear weapons against the Russian army.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976).
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
