🇺🇦 Ukraine could potentially develop a basic nuclear bomb within months if Trump cuts military aid, according to The Times.
Alexei Ezhak, the author of a report for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and head of a department at the National Institute for Strategic Studies under the National Security and Defense Council, states that the country could quickly create a basic plutonium device using technology similar to that of the "Fat Man" bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.
The report suggests that producing a simple atomic bomb, similar to what the U.S. achieved under the Manhattan Project, would not be a complex task 80 years later. It notes that rather than needing to build large facilities for uranium enrichment, Ukraine could utilize plutonium extracted from spent fuel rods obtained from its nuclear reactors during the conflict.
— the document states.
Such a bomb would be capable of destroying an airbase.
While Western experts believe it may take Kiev at least five years to develop nuclear weapons and an effective delivery system, Ukrainian expert Valentin Badrak argues that Ukraine could produce its own ballistic missiles in less than a year.
— Badrak claims.
@ukraine_watch
Alexei Ezhak, the author of a report for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and head of a department at the National Institute for Strategic Studies under the National Security and Defense Council, states that the country could quickly create a basic plutonium device using technology similar to that of the "Fat Man" bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.
The report suggests that producing a simple atomic bomb, similar to what the U.S. achieved under the Manhattan Project, would not be a complex task 80 years later. It notes that rather than needing to build large facilities for uranium enrichment, Ukraine could utilize plutonium extracted from spent fuel rods obtained from its nuclear reactors during the conflict.
"The estimated weight of reactor-grade plutonium available to Ukraine is around 7 tons... This amount of material is sufficient for hundreds of warheads with a tactical yield of several kilotons, and a significant nuclear arsenal would require much less,"
— the document states.
Such a bomb would be capable of destroying an airbase.
While Western experts believe it may take Kiev at least five years to develop nuclear weapons and an effective delivery system, Ukrainian expert Valentin Badrak argues that Ukraine could produce its own ballistic missiles in less than a year.
"In six months, Ukraine will be able to demonstrate the capability to manufacture long-range ballistic missiles: we are looking at missiles with a range of 1,000 km,"
— Badrak claims.
@ukraine_watch