"It can explode right there": Ukraine’s Defence Minister on state of Russia’s nuclear weapons

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA – THURSDAY, 29 SEPTEMBER 2022, 11:40

Oleksii Reznikov, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, said that Russia’s nuclear arsenal may be well beyond its date of expiry: "if you press the button, it can explode right there".

Source: Oleksii Reznikov, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine [news agency]

Quote from Reznikov: "There are always risks. With a neighbour with such a nuclear capability, there’s always a chance they’ll go crazy. What is that chance exactly? I can’t say. Do they still have nuclear warheads? Yes, they do. They can be delivered by Iskanders [tactical missiles], Kalibrs [cruise missiles] and aircraft. I do, however, have questions regarding their quality and condition."

Details: Reznikov said that Russia’s nuclear weapons might have long since expired.

Quote from Reznikov: "I was once talking to Leonid Kuchma, the second president of Ukraine, who was overseeing the process of handing over [Ukraine’s] nuclear weapons to Russia. He stressed that even if [Ukraine] had not handed over those weapons, they would have expired in 1997. They would have had to be written off and disposed of anyway. We have handed it all over to Russia. So the question is: what’s the state of this junk in Russia?"

Details: Reznikov added that Ukraine-made Satana missiles are still in the Russian arsenal, though it is unclear who is in charge of servicing them, what documentation is available to make their servicing possible and "how old" the engineers who service them are.

"So you can press the button, but it will explode right there," Reznikov concluded.

Background:

• On 27 September, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council said that Russia can launch a nuclear strike on Ukraine with impunity, since NATO countries will not take retaliatory steps, worrying about their own security.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that the Russian Federation should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons in light of threats made by the country to use nuclear weapons.
• Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, said that Russia’s use of nuclear weapons will not deter Ukraine from defending its territory.

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