No wonder Russian troops headed straight for Chernobyl when they got to Ukraine

 Ukraine Reportedly Was Close To Obtaining Nuclear Weapons When Russia Decided To ActSouth Front, published March 6

[Report includes Russian Defense Ministry update on RU military operations as of March 6]

Ukraine was secretly developing nuclear weapons and it was close to obtaining them, Russian media reported on March 6 citing a source with knowledge of the situation in Russian security structures.

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The source noted that Ukraine could also covertly acquire technology from the West for centrifuge enrichment of uranium and laser isotope separation.

Plutonium of the required quality was reportedly obtained from foreign states.

“According to available information, the United States has already transferred this material to its partners. There is reason to believe that in the “Ukrainian case” it was not without the participation of Washington,” the source said.

According to the source, the key role in the creation of a nuclear explosive device was assigned to the National Scientific Center “Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology”. Assistance to scientists in the development of methods for the separation of isotopes of nuclear materials was provided by specialized structures of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in particular, the Institute for Nuclear Research and the Institute of Organic Chemistry located in Kyiv.

The Institute for Nuclear Safety Problems in Chernobyl, the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety in Kyiv and the Institute for Condensed System Physics in Lviv also participated in the work.

As a site for the development of nuclear weapons, Kyiv used the zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

“It was there, judging by the available information, that work was underway both on the manufacture of a “dirty” bomb and on the separation of plutonium,” RIA Novosti quotes the source.

The increased radiation background natural for the Chernobyl zone was used to cover this work.

On top of these in recent years, Kyiv has been actively interested in the topic of uranium enrichment and development of means to deliver nuclear weapons (i.e. missiles).

According to the source, Kyiv “covers” most of these developments by implementing joint projects with other countries. For example, in December 2013, Ukraine reached an agreement on cooperation in the rocket sphere with Turkey.

“The Ukrainian rocket and space enterprises Yuzhmashzavod and Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, which previously participated in the creation of the Soviet nuclear missile arsenal, had to play the main role in it,” the source said.

According to the source, the main goal of this cooperation was the creation of a mobile complex equipped with a solid-propellant ballistic missile with a range of up to 1,500 km.

Yuzhmashzavod is also involved in the development of the Grom-2 mobile ground-based missile system at the expense of Saudi Arabia. In the export version, Grom-2, according to Kyiv claims, will have a range of up to 280 km.

The report said that, according to experts, it is possible to modernize the aforementioned missile system in order to increase its firing range over 500 km (according to some estimates up to 1000 km). Since 2017, the Alibey missile range in the Odessa region was used to conduct flight tests of this missile technology.

“…Ukraine has been consistently moving towards the formation of all the necessary conditions for creating its own nuclear weapons,” the source said.

“According to the conclusion of Western experts, the Kyiv regime was closest to the creation of a nuclear explosive device based on plutonium due to its covert production from spent nuclear fuel stored in the country,” the source said.

The source emphasized that “Ukrainian specialists could produce such a device within a few months

“The implementation by Kiev of its extremely dangerous nuclear Ukraine project could become a reality in the very near future,” the source stressed, adding that the negative consequences of this development can hardly be overestimated."

 Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry released an update on the military operation in Ukraine:

• Forces of the Lugansk People’s Republic took control of the settlements of RUBTSY, KARPOVKA, MAKEEVKA, NOVOLOBOVKA, LIPOVOE, MIDDLE, GREEN DOLINA, ZAKABLUKHOVKA.
• Units of the Donetsk People’s Republic established control over the settlements of PEREDOVOE, KARIERNOE and RAVNOPOL.
• Forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic are conducting successful offensive operations on the western and northwestern outskirts of the city of MARIUPOL. The residential area ‘Stariy Krym’ was taken under control.
• Units of the Russian Armed Forces took control of the settlements of PRIYUTNOE, ZAVITNE-BAZHANNE, STAROMLYNOVKA, OCTOBER and NOVOMAYSKOE.
• On the evening of March 5, a massive strike was delivered targeting 61 objects of the military infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This included 22 units of weapons and military equipment in an underground shelter, a brigade command post, 9 ammunition depots and 3 radar posts.
• On the morning of March 6, a long-range high-precision strike hit the airfield of the Ukrainian Air Force in STAROKONSTANTYNOV. It was put out of action.
• Over the past day, fighter aircraft and air defense of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down four Su-27 and one MiG-29 aircraft in Zhitomir area, Su-27 and Su-25 in Radomyshlya area, one Su-25 in NEZHIN area, two Mi-8 helicopters in Kyiv as well as six unmanned aerial vehicles, including Bayraktar TB-2.
• Bomber and assault aircraft hit 3 Buk M1 anti-aircraft missile systems and 3 radar stations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
• A missile strike also destroyed a S-300 anti-aircraft missile system.
• As of now, a total of 2,203 military infrastructure facilities of Ukraine were targeted. Among them: 76 command posts and communication centers, 111 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as 71 radar stations.
• Russian forces destroyed: 69 aircraft on the ground and 24 aircraft in the air, 778 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 77 multiple launch rocket systems, 279 field artillery pieces and mortars, 553 units of special military vehicles, as well as 62 unmanned aerial vehicles.

Additionally, the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol city was resumed on March 6. A day ago, on March 5, Kiev forces already sabotaged the withdrawal of civilians from the area. Therefore, a new round of provocations is expected. Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and nationalist battalions blocked in Mariupol are not interested in evacuation of civilians because they use them as human shields.

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[END REPORT]

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