If US President-elect Donald Trump stops or cuts military aid to Ukraine, Kyiv may start developing nuclear weapons. This is reported by The Times, according to UNN.
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The article states that Ukraine will be able to create a basic nuclear device similar to the Fat Man bomb used by the United States during World War II. Analysts explain that such a device would not require significant infrastructure capacity for uranium enrichment , but could instead use plutonium from spent fuel rods from Ukrainian nuclear reactors. With its experience in nuclear technology and nine operating reactors, Ukraine is able to implement this plan within a few months.
Experts estimate that the country has a plutonium stockpile of about seven tons, which is enough to produce hundreds of tactical warheads with a yield of several kilotons. According to the authors of the report, even one such device could provide a significant defense advantage, becoming a deterrent against military aggression.
Oleksiy Yizhak, head of a department at the National Institute for Strategic Studies of Ukraine, noted that although the power of such a device could be smaller and less predictable due to the characteristics of plutonium, even this would be enough to hit large military or industrial facilities.
The development of nuclear weapons would be an unprecedented step for Ukraine, which once voluntarily gave up the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal.