nuclear – Ukraine 24

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Dnipropetrovsk firm helped Russia build nuclear weapons labs, SBU says

A building materials company in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast sent metal products to the Russian Federation that were used to build nuclear weapons laboratories, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on Jan. 18, following an investigation into the firm. The announcement coincides with multiple reports from Ukrainian law enforcement agencies on Jan. 18 exposing alleged instances […]

Ukraine

January 18, 2025

US sanctions Russian entity operating occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Jan. 15 sanctioned Russia's Federal State Unitary Enterprise Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, a Moscow-created entity that took control of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia power plant in the partially occupied oblast. The updated sanctions list also targets Vladislav Isaev, the company’s CEO since April 2024. In October 2022, Russian Prime Minister […]

Ukraine

January 15, 2025

China may have stopped Putin from using nuclear weapons, Blinken says

China may have talked Russian President Vladimir Putin out of deploying nuclear weapons amid Russia's war against Ukraine, outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) on Jan. 3. Beijing has emerged as Moscow's leading ally and financial backer since the full-scale invasion of February 2022, though […]

Ukraine

January 3, 2025

More than two-thirds of Ukrainians favor idea of restoring nuclear arms arsenal, poll shows

About 73% of Ukrainians supported the idea of Ukraine restoring its nuclear weapons, according to a poll published by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology on Dec. 23. The poll was conducted around the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Budapest Memorandum, under which Ukraine gave up its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal in exchange for […]

Ukraine

December 23, 2024

Russian drone hits IAEA service vehicle near Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

On Dec. 10, a Russian drone struck and severely damaged an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) service vehicle on its way to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), President Volodymyr Zelensky reported. The service vehicle was going to the ZNPP for a personnel rotation. "This attack clearly demonstrated how Russia views everything related to international […]

Ukraine

December 10, 2024

When Ukraine was the third-largest nuclear power

For the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum, The Kyiv Independent’s Daria Shulzhenko visits a former Soviet-era nuclear missile silo in south Ukraine. In this video, she delves into the history and significance of the agreement that saw Ukraine relinquish its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances. Through on-site exploration and expert insights, the […]

Ukraine

December 9, 2024

30 years ago today, Ukraine traded nuclear arms for security assurances, a decision that still haunts Kyiv today

On Dec. 5, 1994, Ukraine had signed a set of political agreements that would guarantee the country's sovereignty and independence in return for accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Signed in Budapest, the memorandum would lay grounds for Ukraine to dispose of its nuclear arsenal in return for the U.S., […]

Ukraine

December 5, 2024

Almost 40% of Russians think nuclear strike on Ukraine is justified, Russian sociologist says

Thirty-nine percent of Russians believe that "the use of nuclear weapons could be justified" during Russia's war in Ukraine, Alexey Levinson, chief of the sociocultural research department at the Russian independent polling organization Levada Center, said at a conference on Nov. 29. Levinson cited a poll conducted by the Levada Center in November. The poll […]

Ukraine

November 30, 2024

Ukrainian nuclear plants reduce output in response to large-scale Russian attack

Nuclear power plants in Ukraine reduced electricity production on Nov. 28 as a precautionary measure in response to a Russian mass aerial attack on Ukraine, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Mariano Grossi said. For the second time in less than two weeks, the Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, and South Ukraine nuclear power plants (NPPs) lowered […]

Ukraine

November 29, 2024

Russia 'unlikely' to launch nuclear attack despite Putin's threats, US intelligence says

Washington's decision to allow Kyiv to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia has not increased the risk of a nuclear attack, Reuters reported on Nov. 27, citing five unnamed sources familiar with the intelligence data. The news comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin updated the nuclear doctrine on Nov. 19, and Russian government […]

Ukraine

November 28, 2024

Ex-US ambassador on Russia's nuclear saber-rattling

The Kyiv Independent's Dinara Khalilova sits down with the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Steven Pifer, to discuss the political implications of Russia's attack on Dnipro with a nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile last week. Source link

Ukraine

November 27, 2024

The Counteroffensive: Ukraine’s nuclear ambitions fueled by betrayal, hindered by feasibility

Editor’s Note: This article was published by the twice-weekly newsletter “The Counteroffensive with Tim Mak” on Nov. 23, 2024, and has been re-published by the Kyiv Independent with permission. To subscribe to The Counteroffensive, click here. For a brief period just over 30 years ago, Ukraine possessed the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world. Its […]

Ukraine

November 25, 2024