Kyiv's threats to resume its nuclear program have become one of the reasons for conducting a special military operation in Ukraine, said Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev.

According to him, the Ukrainian authorities "weep bitterly" about the decision taken under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum to withdraw the nuclear arsenal located on the territory of the country and inherited from the USSR.

In a post on his page on the social network VKontakte, Medvedev stressed that the leaders of Ukraine always spoke of this as a forced step, “although Kyiv had no means to maintain the “power” that had fallen at random.”

“And also that they would use it with devilish pleasure against us and their own citizens.

What they explicitly hinted at, threatening to resume the nuclear program.

And what was one of the reasons for holding the NWO,” Medvedev wrote.

At the same time, the deputy head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation recalled that the decision to withdraw the nuclear arsenal from the territory of Ukraine was once taken under heavy pressure from Washington.

Against this background, Medvedev drew attention to the actions of South Africa, which became “the first and, in fact, the only country” that possessed nuclear weapons, the potential for their production, a control complex, delivery vehicles, and made an “important political decision” to voluntarily give up all this.

“Democratic authorities (South Africa. -

RT

) have taken a responsible and sovereign position in relation to their people, neighboring countries and the entire world community, and today they do not regret the choice they made 30 years ago, they are proud of it and show the way for others by their example,” he stressed. politician.

Nuclear-free status

Recall that after the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine got the third largest nuclear arsenal in the world, which included silo and mobile launchers of ICBMs, tactical nuclear weapons (NW), strategic bombers and hundreds of warheads of various types.

Nuclear disarmament of the country was carried out on the basis of both international agreements and national legislation.

On July 16, 1990, Kyiv adopted a declaration of state sovereignty, which proclaimed a non-nuclear status.

The document assumed the refusal to acquire, produce and distribute nuclear weapons.

On December 5, 1994, in Budapest, the heads of Russia, the United States, Great Britain and Ukraine signed a memorandum under which Kyiv undertook to transfer all nuclear arsenals inherited from the USSR to the Russian side in exchange for security guarantees from the signatory countries.

In recent years, Ukrainian officials and politicians at various levels have regularly stated that renunciation of nuclear weapons was a mistake.

So, in 2018, this thesis was voiced by Alexander Turchinov, who at that time held the post of Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council.

In 2021, the now former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, told German media that Kyiv should consider returning nuclear status if NATO does not grant the country membership in the alliance.

“Either we are part of an alliance like NATO and help make Europe stronger, or we have only one option - to arm ourselves and maybe think again about nuclear status.

How else can we guarantee our protection?”

he noted.

In turn, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on February 19, 2022, as part of his speech at the Munich Security Conference, threatened to reconsider the country's refusal of nuclear weapons.

Dangerous provocations

The topic of Kyiv's potential possession of nuclear weapons again attracted attention after the Russian Ministry of Defense published information that the Ukrainian side planned to carry out a provocation using the so-called dirty bomb, or low-yield nuclear weapon.

This was announced on October 24 at a special briefing by the head of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Forces of the RF Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov.

“The purpose of the provocation is to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction in the Ukrainian theater of operations, and thereby launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign in the world aimed at undermining confidence in Moscow,” he said.

  • Nuclear explosion

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“In addition, we have information about the contacts of the office of the President of Ukraine with representatives of the UK on the issue of possible obtaining technology for creating nuclear weapons.

For this, Ukraine has an appropriate production base and scientific potential,” Kirillov said.

The data released by the Ministry of Defense suggests that Ukraine was indeed working on the creation of its own nuclear weapons, military expert Alexei Leonkov believes.

“Ukraine's statements about the desire to become a nuclear power were not unfounded.

Kyiv had every opportunity to create a "dirty bomb", or tactical nuclear weapon.

The only problem was the lack of a means of delivering this ammunition to the target, ”the analyst emphasized.

Moreover, the Western curators of the Kyiv regime from the United States and Great Britain were aware of the plans of the Ukrainian side, Leonkov believes.

“The world community would react very painfully to the use of nuclear weapons in the special operation zone in Ukraine.

If something like this happened, the reaction around the world, through the efforts of the West, would be turned against Russia, ”he added.

National security 

Moscow could not ignore the threats from Kyiv, which began to declare its intention to get nuclear weapons at its disposal, said Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“In recent years, politicians at various levels in Kyiv have made statements that Russia perceived as an intention to create their own nuclear bomb.

In addition to being a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it would pose a serious threat to Russia.

This is one of the significant reasons for concern for our national security,” the expert emphasized.

At the same time, Western countries are now speculating on the topic of the possible use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine in order to push neutral countries and its allies away from Russia, he added.

“A nuclear incident in Ukraine would suit Washington, which is making efforts to push allies away from Russia and win over to its side the neutral and vacillating countries that make up the majority in the world.

In addition, this would make it possible to accuse the Russian Federation of using nuclear weapons, violating international obligations and guarantees under the NPT,” the political scientist noted.

In turn, the leading expert of the MGIMO Center for Military-Political Studies, Doctor of Political Sciences Mikhail Alexandrov, noted that the potential for creating nuclear weapons in Ukraine before the start of the special operation was quite high.

“Ukraine had both scientific personnel and access to nuclear material.

If Kyiv decided to create nuclear weapons, it would be a matter of time.

There would be problems with the means of delivery.

However, over time, medium and short-range ballistic missiles could be created, which would pose a direct threat to Russia, ”the RT interlocutor emphasized.

The special operation of the Russian Federation was able to prevent such a scenario and undermine the potential necessary for the implementation of the nuclear program, Aleksandrov believes.

“The longer the special operation continues, the less likely the Ukrainian side will be to succeed in creating a full-fledged nuclear weapon.

Now Kyiv can only create a “dirty bomb” using material from nuclear power plants that it controls,” the political scientist concluded.