RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine could have nuclear weapon in months – report

Ukraine could feasibly raid the country’s nuclear reactors to develop crude atomic weapons if the US cuts off military aid, a briefing paper prepared for the Ministry of Defense has advised.

The Times reported on Wednesday that its authors at the National Institute for Strategic Studies believe 

“creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did within the framework of the Manhattan Project, would not be a difficult task 80 years later.”

Published by the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, the report claims that “creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did within the framework of the Manhattan Project, would not be a difficult task 80 years later.”

While Ukraine cannot enrich Uranium – a process vital for building modern nuclear weapons, its nine operating nuclear reactors contain an estimated seven tons of plutonium, its authors claimed. This could be used to build bombs similar to the ‘Fat Man’ device dropped on Nagasaki by the US in 1945, they wrote.

While a Ukrainian ‘Fat Man’ would only be a tenth as powerful as the device that leveled Nagasaki, the amount of plutonium in the country’s reactors “is sufficient for hundreds of warheads with a tactical yield of several kilotons,” they argued.

“That would be enough to destroy an entire Russian airbase or concentrated military, industrial or logistics installations. The exact nuclear yield would be unpredictable because it would use different isotopes of plutonium,” author Aleksey Yizhak explained.

Excerpts from the paper were published by The Times on Wednesday. According to the British newspaper, the report has been shared with Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, and will be presented at a conference attended by the country’s defense and strategic industries ministers on Wednesday.

Russia’s nuclear doctrine allows for the use of such weapons in the event of a first nuclear strike on its territory or infrastructure, or if the existence of the Russian state is threatened by either nuclear or conventional weapons. Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Moscow should have the right to consider the nuclear option if it is attacked by a non-nuclear state that is backed by one that possesses such weaponry.

The threat of Russian nuclear retaliation has prevented NATO from intervening directly in the Ukraine conflict, the outgoing chief of the bloc’s military committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said at a summit on Sunday.

Speaking to The Times, Yizhak downplayed the threat of nuclear war. “I was surprised by the reverence the United States has for Russia’s nuclear threat. It may have cost us the war,” he said. “They treat nuclear weapons as some kind of God. So perhaps it is also time for us to pray to this God.”

Last month, Zelensky declared that Ukraine would attempt to acquire nuclear weapons if it is denied NATO membership, although he later walked these comments back. “Russia will not allow this to happen, no matter what,” Putin said in response.

In a statement on Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tikhy said that Kiev was “not developing and not seeking to develop nuclear weapons.”

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia stages first missile attack on Kyiv since August, Ukraine says

Blasts boomed across Kyiv on Wednesday morning after officials said Russia launched its first missile attack on the Ukrainian capital since August, forcing elderly women and small children to take shelter in an underground metro station.

Ukrainians have been waiting for a big missile attack for months, worried that it could deal a new blow to the hobbled energy system and cause long blackouts as winter sets in.

Air defences intercepted two incoming cruise missiles, two ballistic missiles and 37 drones across the country, the air force said. No casualties or major damage were reported in Kyiv.

"Putin is launching a missile attack on Kyiv right now," Andriy Yermak, the head of the president's office, wrote on Telegram.

Falling debris came down in the region outside Kyiv, injuring a 48-year-old man and causing a fire at a warehouse, the head of Kyiv region's administration said.

Kyiv has faced Russian drone attacks almost nightly for weeks. City mayor Vitali Klitschko said a drone was still flying over central Kyiv in the morning.

"Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working. Stay in shelters!" the Kyiv city administration wrote on Telegram.

Around 100 residents took shelter in the central metro station Universitet, including small children sleeping on yoga mats and elderly women sitting on fold-out chairs.

Some complained of a lack of sleep from the regular drone attacks, which trigger the air raid alert that sounds across the city and buzzes on phones.

"The mornings are totally ruined. I started college in September and every morning has been ruined by the bloody Russians. I cannot sleep, cannot think and I drink energy drinks all the time," said Mykyta, a teenager hugging his dog in the metro.

MASSIVE ATTACK

Russia targeted Ukrainian power facilities with strikes earlier this year, causing blackouts. The situation has since improved, but officials believe the Kremlin may plan to attack the grid again soon.

Andrii Kovalenko, a senior official at the National Security and Defence Council, warned that Russia was ready to conduct another "massive" attack and had accumulated a large number of cruise missiles.

After Wednesday's strike, power grid operator Ukrenergo said it would limit electricity supply for businesses due to "significantly" lower power imports and lower generation.

The last time restrictions on power supplies were imposed on both businesses and households was after a big Russian missile and drone attack in late August.

It was unclear whether the new restrictions were linked to the latest attack. Ukraine's largest private power generator and distributor DTEK said the restrictions would apply to Kyiv, the surrounding region and the regions of Odesa, Dnipro and Donetsk.

Despite regular drone attacks, Russia has not struck Kyiv with missiles since Aug. 26 when it launched a massive attack across the country that officials said deployed more than 200 drones and missiles. That attack killed seven people, Ukraine said.

RT/Reuters