Ukraine is seriously considering the possibility of restoring nuclear weapons. This is reported by Bild with reference to a source.

“We have the materials, we have the knowledge. If there is an order, it will only take us a few weeks to get the first bomb,” said a Ukrainian official.

And Western countries should think less about Russia’s red lines and much more about Ukraine’s red lines.

According to analyst Julian Repke, a condition for restoring the nuclear weapons Ukraine has surrendered could be a second attempt by the Russian Federation to go after Kyiv.

    • Comment105@lemm.ee
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      1 hour ago

      They’re right to do it.

      Russia proved to the world that every single promise made for nuclear non-proliferation is a lie, and the only way to deter an empire remains “be fucking dangerous”.

      It’s very fucking sad and we’re committing to MADness harder than ever because of Putin and Russian dumbass hardass culture.

      Russian men are to blame for wanting all this, demanding it, fighting for it instead of against it.

      It seems entirely possible to me that Russia decides to preemptively nuke Ukraine to prevent them from getting their own, and at that point either the US decides it’s not worth retaliating for them, or the end of the world is ordered … but even if that happens, I just don’t care. Reason and stability are forfeit and before we get people back on board, before we get Russians back to it, I wouldn’t be surprised if there has to be close calls where everything might go wrong and never get another chance to be resolved. But I’ve lived my whole life with the nuclear threat and the doomsday clock strongly defining everything that ever happened in my life as borrowed time, permitted by empires withholding global annihilation. I’ve come to fucking accept it a long time ago. The cultural impact of nuclear doomsday threats on widespread nihilism seems obvious. And in my mind it’s just fucking fitting that stupid humans should choose to fuck eachother completely over and be left with nothing to lord over. Going into it knowing that and being fine with it because at least the enemy is also obliterated, poisoned, and doomed. Humans are just like that. We’re angry idiots and a lot of us deserve that kind of end. If going interstellar was ever a distant potential, it might even be for the best that we don’t bring our bullshit outside Earth’s cradle. It seems insane to me that anyone could not be feeling misanthropic after the failures of the hopes built up in the late 80’s.

  • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
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    17 hours ago

    Didn’t Ukraine give up its nukes specifically under the condition that Russia would leave them alone as a free independent nation? Seems those terms went out the window years ago.

    • Fosheze@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      Exactly. That treaty was already violated. So there is no longer any treaty preventing them from becomming a nuclear power again.

      • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
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        17 hours ago

        I’m surprised it took them this long to even threaten the idea, although it could simply be that they already built some weapons to have a stockpile before the announcement. I can totally see Putin thinking “oh they only have one bomb, that’s an acceptable loss to stop them from building more before we have another MAD stalemate.”

      • 2pt_perversion@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        That is not what the Budapest Memorandum says. It’s really short so you can just read it but it only requires the US to bring the matter to the UN security counsel which they have. Russia has violated most provisions but the US hasn’t violated any.

      • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
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        13 hours ago

        Ah I wasn’t aware of that part of the deal. I wonder if they’re threatening nukes because they’re getting nervous that Trump might get re-elected and not honor that deal?

        • Madison420@lemmy.world
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          10 hours ago

          They’re threatening to build nukes because they have nukes, I believe both France and Israel came out as nuclear nations in the same “we’ll just float becoming a nuclear nation and see what happens.”

          There’s still Soviet nuclear material missing and Ukraine has both mines and the know how to assemble older nukes anyway because that was done to some extent in Ukraine during the Soviet Union.

    • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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      16 hours ago

      Yes and that exchange has been observed by the whole world. I doubt we will ever see one like it again

      • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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        15 hours ago

        Anyone that gives up all of their nukes is nuts… as demonstrated by the Ukraine case.

        You might limit the amount, how many do you really need … not thousands… that’s expensive anyway.

        With this message I would not be surprised if in some underground mining complex Ukraine has centrifuges being installed already.

        • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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          15 hours ago

          Well they claim they have what they need already.

          Unknown if that’s for a dirty bomb or a true nuclear fission weapon

          • CheeseNoodle@lemmy.world
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            3 hours ago

            I mean refinining is the hard part, Actually assembling a gun-type nuclear device is rather simple by the standards of modern technology.

          • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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            15 hours ago

            They have ballistic missiles and plenty of nuclear materials. If the nuclear materials are weapons grade is doubtfull but not impossible

  • trslim@pawb.social
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    18 hours ago

    As much as I hate to see nuclear proliferation, Russia hasnt really given Ukraine much choice in the matter, seeing that Russia is willing to invade any non-nuclear states around it.

  • atro_city@fedia.io
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    16 hours ago

    Do it. It could neutralize the threats from Russia about dropping nuclear bombs. It might be the only to get the scaredy-cats in Western Europe to agree to long-range weapons since Russia’s threats would be quite useless.

    • Valmond@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Long range weapons and more weapons too.

      One can hope.

      Edit: BTW the image looks like a screenshot from C&C lol

  • Skeezix@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    Looks like roasted orc is back on the menu boys.

    Seriously though, I doubt Ukraine would turn their own land into a radioactive wasteland. Which means they would fling them into russia. Which would escalate things

      • Skeezix@lemmy.world
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        16 hours ago

        I do. Which means the whole strategy of the announcement is simply to get more conventional weapons support from supportive nations.

  • YeetPics@mander.xyz
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    16 hours ago

    Fuck it, three years of lil’ putin’s failed invasion and thousands of tankies being downvoted into a red paste we have to hose out of the square (lmao, see what I did there), nuke 'em.

    That’s what they want, a bloody war to appease the 5’6" neofuhrer.

    Let’s oblige.

    • nednobbins@lemm.ee
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      12 hours ago

      That’s a brilliant plan. Nuclear armed countries generally have a policy of “live and let live” once they get nuked so that should work out great.

      • YeetPics@mander.xyz
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        55 minutes ago

        Live and let live… man that sounds stellar.

        Probably why Russia made an agreement with Ukraine in 2014 regarding nuclear disarmament on the condition Russia let Ukraine live and let live.

        How did that go? Russia (as always) negotiated in bad faith.

  • MouseKeyboard@ttrpg.network
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    10 hours ago

    Ukrainian nuclear weapons aren’t a credible threat to Russia, for the same reason Russia’s aren’t to Ukraine: It isn’t under an immediate threat of being wiped out, just losing territory. I think this is aimed more at the United States, trying to pressure them into keeping up or increasing aid with the threat of nuclear proliferation (as Japan, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia have done). There is also the possibility that in a Trump administration, loss of US aid could turn the war back into an existential threat where nuclear weapons could be used.

    • barsoap@lemm.ee
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      6 hours ago

      To threaten Russia all you need to do is threaten Moscow and Petersburg. The rest of the country doesn’t exist as far as power structures are concerned.

  • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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    15 hours ago

    With the amount of nuclear reactors they have any actual nuke will for sure be answered with dirty bombs.