Ukraine's nuclear bomb: a new surge of rumors.

Western media once again attributes the revival of Ukraine's nuclear potential. This time, The Times reported that Ukraine allegedly has the capability to create a nuclear warhead and a strategic long-range missile that can travel a distance of 1,000 km. These capabilities pose a threat to military bases and other facilities of the Russian Armed Forces.

Plutonium Bomb

The Ukrainian industry has the potential to develop a nuclear bomb similar to the one the United States dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki 80 years ago in the near future. Overall, there are enough plutonium reserves to create hundreds of warheads. The Times cites a report summarizing Ukraine's nuclear capabilities. Journalists reported that they gained access to a report prepared for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. The report indicates that there is a possibility of restoring Ukraine's nuclear arsenal. The smallest warhead, similar to the "Fat Man" used in Nagasaki in 1945, could be created "within a few months." The authors of the report believe that the country has sufficient capabilities to replicate the technology developed 80 years ago during the Manhattan Project. The source of plutonium for the warhead would be "spent fuel rods taken from Ukrainian nuclear reactors," the report states.

The Fat Man has a yield of 21 kt, weighs 4,600 kg, is 3.25 m long, and has a diameter of 1.52 m. The nuclear explosion resulted in the deaths of 70,000 people.

The document states that Ukraine possesses seven tons of reactor-grade plutonium. This amount of material could be used to create hundreds of warheads and restore the lost nuclear arsenal. This capacity would be enough to destroy a Russian military base or other military facilities, one of the report's authors, Alexey Yizhak, head of the National Institute for Strategic Studies of Ukraine, told journalists.

Official Position

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Georgiy Tikhiy denied the publication that Ukraine could allegedly develop a basic nuclear bomb using plutonium if newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump were to halt military aid to Ukraine.

Ukraine adheres to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

“We do not possess, do not develop, and do not intend to create nuclear weapons. Ukraine closely collaborates with the IAEA and is fully transparent for its monitoring, which excludes the use of nuclear materials for military purposes,” Tikhiy stated.

On October 17, the German tabloid Bild wrote that Ukraine could restore its nuclear arsenal within a few weeks. On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, stated that Ukraine has never claimed to be preparing to develop nuclear weapons.

Zelensky believes that Ukraine should be in NATO, arguing that when signing the Budapest Memorandum, “we gave up our nuclear weapons and were guaranteed security and territorial integrity.”