57  Nukes in Ukraine?

Abstract

It is a bad idea to defame Ukraine with dirty bombs: Ukraine has given up its nukes and Russia has broken the Budapest Memorandum.

„Myth“

Ukraine builds dirty nuclear bombs and strives for real nukes.

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„Truth“
  • Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons but Russia violated the Budapest Memorandum
  • Ukraine doesn’t strive for nuclear weapons and hopes instead for NATO protection

57.1 Biolabs and Bombs?

Nuclear rhetoric is a milestone of the Russian government’s communication strategies used to justify its unprovoked and unlawful aggression against Ukraine. While claiming that it fights against the NATO expression and threats it causes, it also states that Ukraine solemnly poses a threat to Russian security by having biolaboratories for the development of biological weapons and strives to obtain a “dirty bomb.” The IAEA1 has repeatedly refuted Russian disinformation regarding nuclear provocations or nuclear safety violations by Ukraine. This accusation was immediately denied by the Ministry of Defense and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

57.2 Budapest Memorandum

After the signing of the Budapest Memorandum,2 Ukraine completely renounced nuclear weapons. Russia, as a nuclear state, undertook the commitment in the form of security assurances to respect the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine’s borders. Besides, Ukraine doesn’t possess the capabilities to create a nuclear bomb. It had enriched uranium only for scientific purposes, but from 2010 until 2012, the removal of 128 kilograms (over 280 pounds) of HEU from two remaining sites in Ukraine took place. The deliveries were finalized through a collaborative initiative with Ukraine, fulfilling the pledges made by Presidents Obama and Yanukovych during the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit to eliminate all of Ukraine’s HEU by the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit.3

57.3 Nuclear Power Plants

The purpose of disinformation about the nuclear disaster in Ukraine is to discredit the Ukrainian authorities for their alleged inability to maintain safety at nuclear facilities. In this way, Russia is trying to portray Ukraine as unreliable and dangerous. Facts about Ukraine storing weapons at nuclear power plants, shelling nuclear facilities, or intending to obtain nuclear weapons are intended to prove that it is Ukraine that is posing a danger and blackmailing the world with a nuclear catastrophe, not Russia. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was captured on the 4 of March 2022 under the control of the Russian army. They place military equipment,4 rocket launching systems,5 and troops6 in the territory of the plant and the Russian troops are shelling Ukrainian targets from there, knowing that the Ukrainians will not shoot back so as not to jeopardize the nuclear facilities.7 This causes a permanent threat not only to Ukrainian security but to the European one, too.

  1. Margolis, E. (2022, October 28). Gegen Krieg, Ausbeutung und Unterdrückung. Antikrieg. Retrieved May 1, 2024, from http://www.antikrieg.com/aktuell/2022_10_28_dendritten.htm↩︎

  2. Memorandum on security assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to . (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2024, from https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%203007/Part/volume-3007-I-52241.pdf↩︎

  3. FACT SHEET: Ukraine Highly Enriched Uranium Removal. (2012, March 27). whitehouse.gov. Retrieved May 1, 2024, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/27/fact-sheet-ukraine-highly-enriched-uranium-removal↩︎

  4. Murphy, P. P., Lister, T., & Picheta, R. (2022, August 19). Russian vehicles seen inside turbine hall at Ukraine nuclear plant. CNN. Retrieved May 1, 2024, from https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/19/europe/ukraine-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-russian-vehicles-intl-hnk/index.html↩︎

  5. Kakissis, J. (2022, August 16). Over the river from a Russian-occupied nuclear plant, a Ukrainian town fears a spill. NPR. Retrieved May 1, 2024, from https://www.npr.org/2022/08/16/1117511626/ukraine-russia-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-town-fears-meltdown↩︎

  6. Wickham, A., & Nardelli, A. (2022, August 18). Russia Seen Using Ukraine Nuclear Plant as Shield for Troops. Retrieved May 1, 2024, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-18/russia-is-seen-using-ukraine-nuclear-plant-as-shield-for-troops#xj4y7vzkg↩︎

  7. Kramer, A. (2022, August 1). Using Nuclear Reactors for Cover, Russians Lob Rockets at Ukrainians. The New York Times. Retrieved July 2, 2024, from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/world/europe/ukraine-south-counteroffensive-nuclear.html↩︎