Author: Shendu
Having Nuclear weapon is an important symbol of becoming a world power or regional power. Israel, India, Pakistan, and other countries have developed nuclear weapons under the pressure of the whole world, while Iraq, Syria, and other countries have paid a bloody price for nuclear weapons.
However, there is a country with the world's top three nuclear warheads , as well as a unique nuclear missile train, the leader Tu-160 "Pirate Flag" in , but this country wants to destroy all nuclear weapons. The slender and elegant pirate flag , as slender as a white swan, was even beheaded by a forklift. This country that wasted natural resources was Ukraine.
Soviet collapse , with an additional nuclear power
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine inherited 30% of the former Soviet Union's military power, including nearly 800,000 troops, 6,000 tanks , 1,500 military aircraft, as well as military scientific research units such as Southern Machinery Factory, Black Sea Shipyard and military factory . At the same time, Ukraine also inherited some of the former Soviet nuclear forces. directly ranked third in the nuclear club with 1,272 strategic missile nuclear warheads, and more than 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons .
Ukrainian Nuclear Weapons Museum displays the Ukrainian Nuclear Weapons Museum of
Ukraine has two of the "Trial" nuclear strike capabilities, namely land-based strategic missile and strategic bomber. Strategic missiles include SS-18, SS-19, and SS-24. Among them, SS-24 "scalpel" is the only strategic missile train deployed in practical terms in the world. Each train has 20 cars, including command, launch, support, and life equipment. Among them, three launch cars, each one is one missile .
, the missile train, looks exactly like ordinary civilian trains. Satellite reconnaissance cannot detect its traces, so it is extremely concealed, which caused panic in the United States as soon as it was released. Moreover, Ukraine not only has these three missiles, but also has the ability to continue research and development and production. In particular, the research and development and production of SS-24 missiles are in Ukraine, which makes it impossible for Russia to continue to maintain and upgrade its own SS-24 missile trains and has to retire these missiles.
SS-24 missile train
Ukraine has 23 Tu-95MS "bear" and 19 Tu-160 Pirate Flag strategic bomber . These bomber are equipped with KH-55 cruise missiles, with a total of more than 500, many of which can be equipped with nuclear warheads.
On paper, Ukraine is not only a nuclear power, but also a nuclear power. It is not at all inferior to Britain, France and China back then. , especially -160, after all, China does not have bombers of this level . But these nuclear weapons are hot potatoes for Ukraine.
Picture-160
The whole world requires Ukraine to abandon its nuclear power
As the saying goes, a gentleman is innocent, and he is guilty of possessing a treasure. Ukraine has such a huge nuclear arsenal, which has made the five permanent members of the United Nations uneasy. It is rare for five countries to reach an agreement to demand that Ukraine abandon its nuclear power. The pressure from the five major countries has made Ukraine feel uncomfortable and has to seriously consider the abandonment of nuclear power. At the same time, as the victim of Chernobyl nuclear accident , Ukraine has become terrified of "nuclear" talks, and many Ukrainians hope that nuclear weapons will stay away from Ukraine.
At first, the Ukrainian government carried out some work to abandon nuclear weapons and transported all tactical nuclear weapons to Russia. But Ukrainian parliament and the military gradually realized the value of nuclear weapons and refused to transport the strategic nuclear warheads away. And he refused to implement the treaty signed by the former Soviet Union and the United States in 1991 to destroy nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Belarus, , and Kazakhstan, .
Missiles transported to Russia were demolished
However, these people who hinder the abandonment of nuclear weapons did not aim to use nuclear weapons to improve Ukraine's political and economic status, but out of distrust of the United States and Russia, they are unwilling to give up the bargaining chip without obtaining written guarantees. At the same time, they hope that nuclear weapons can receive more financial assistance.
After the United States and Russia put pressure on Ukraine, Ukraine agreed to destroy nuclear weapons, but until Ukraine gets real security, Ukraine will retain 40% of its nuclear weapons. In January 1993, in order to speed up Ukraine's nuclear abandonment progress, the United States agreed to provide Ukraine with US$175 million in funds for the destruction of nuclear weapons and US$155 million in economic assistance. The United States will also take the lead in establishing a foundation to support market economy reforms in Ukraine, Belarus and other countries.
During this period, China also continued to provide security commitments to Ukraine. At the end of 1994, China not only promised not to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, but also promised that Ukraine would provide nuclear protection when it encountered nuclear threat . With the mediation of China and other countries, Ukraine agreed to completely abandon nuclear power and formulated a timetable. Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom and Ukraine signed the "Budapest Security Assurance Memorandum", providing a series of guarantees for Ukraine's national security. Now looking at this agreement, this treaty is nothing more than a piece of waste paper, not as useful as toilet paper.
First, Ukraine transported all nuclear warheads to Russia before 1999. Part of the high- enriched uranium in these nuclear warheads will be transported to the United States, and then made into nuclear fuel rods and sold to nuclear power plants. Ukraine will get US$1 billion of nuclear fuel rods for domestic nuclear power plants.
SS-18 liquid fuel ballistic missile, the upper right is the launch silo
Solid fuel missiles in Ukraine will be detonated, and liquid fuel missiles will be cut to ensure that these missiles are completely unrepaired or reused. The precious metal on the missile will be recycled, and the nuclear waste will be collected and buried deep. According to international practice, the launch silo will be blown up from 6 to 8 meters underground.
In addition to nuclear missile , Ukraine's strategic bombers are also the key targets of the United States and Russia, especially the 19 Tu-160s. At that time, Russia did not have many Tu-160s, and the United States was extremely afraid of this big killer, fearing that all these planes would fall into Russia's hands.
Russia showed great enthusiasm on the Tu-160 and proposed to Ukraine to use bombers to repay debts. After all, Ukraine not only owes Russia a large amount of oil and natural gas payment, but will also rely on Russia to provide energy in the future. The two parties agreed to repay part of the debt with 8 Tu-160s.
Picture-160 was beheaded
Seeing that Russia and Ukraine were harmonious, the United States could not sit still. Although Clinton was about to step down, he still tried his best to let Ukraine destroy the remaining Tu-160. He first promised a large amount of funds to allow Ukraine to start destroying Tu-160, and it was violently demolished.
But after these aircraft completely lost their use value, the funds promised were gone again. In the remaining 11 Tu-160 in Ukraine, except for one of them placed in the museum, the other 10 have become parts. In this way, Ukraine's nuclear weapons and nuclear strike capabilities were all reset to zero.
is poor on the surface, but in fact it is stupid
As we all know, the Soviet economy was in trouble on the eve of the disintegration, and Ukraine was not surprised. After the disintegration, it encountered a more serious economic crisis . The huge army and nuclear arsenal left over from the Soviet Union are strength on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is also a burden on the other hand. maintenance of nuclear warheads alone will consume one-third of Ukraine's fiscal revenue a year, let alone those strategic missiles and strategic bombers . In addition to the expensive maintenance costs, the launch codes of these nuclear warheads are all mastered by Russia. Although Ukraine may crack the code, the time and cost will not be small.
In addition to the cost, technology is also a problem. The subsystems of these killers come from multiple design and scientific research institutions in the former Soviet Union. Ukraine does not have the scientific research strength to maintain and upgrade map-160. Over time, these aircraft will become scrap iron. It is better to exchange these aircraft for some money.
Picture-95
It would be fine if Ukraine was a small country in a corner, but it would be fine if the whole world became scorched earth would not think of it, but Ukraine is known as the gate of Europe. Since ancient times, civilization exchanges between the East and the West have passed through Ukraine. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became the middle ground between NATO and Russia, and it is impossible to survive alone.
If you want to survive, you must have strength, and the nuclear weapons left by the Soviet Union are undoubtedly the trump card in the hands of Ukraine. If Ukraine can unite and use nuclear weapons as bargaining chips to exchange for political status and economic aid, restore the national economy until it can afford the ability to hold nuclear weapons, then Ukraine may not have become a regional power. What's more, Ukraine is known as the European granary and has an industrial foundation left by the Soviet Union.
SS-19
But Ukrainian leaders not only lack foresight, but also have no sense of responsibility for the country and nation. They just want to get benefits and deal with nuclear weapons as soon as possible, so that they can take the US dollar to the world, so that Ukraine will gradually fall into what it is now.
From a global perspective, Ukraine's abandonment of nuclear power is undoubtedly a matter that is conducive to peace and security. After all, Ukraine lacks talented and strategic leaders in history. There are many ethnic groups in the country and many contradictions. It is not ruled out that irrational leaders will recklessly use nuclear weapons. Ukraine has been in a state of chaos since its independence. Once terrorists take advantage of the chaos to obtain nuclear weapons from Ukraine, it will be a disaster for the whole world.
Now Ukraine has become a virtue, and some people have begun to fantasize what would happen if Ukraine had not abandoned its nuclear power back then. There is no history. With the sense of responsibility of Ukraine's leaders to the country, even if they give them a mountain of gold, they have already lost all.
