Ukraine may develop a simple nuclear bomb if military support from the United States is stopped, writes the British publication The Times, citing sources in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. If necessary, Kyiv is capable of creating a nuclear device based on plutonium, similar to the Fat Man bomb used by the United States against Nagasaki in 1945. Reactor plutonium, which can be extracted from spent fuel rods of nuclear reactors, can be used for this purpose.

According to The Times, Ukraine may currently have up to 7 tons of reactor plutonium at its disposal, which experts believe is sufficient to produce hundreds of low-yield warheads of several kilotons. However, a much smaller amount of plutonium is required to create a full-fledged arsenal of such devices, suggesting that enrichment of the Ukrainian armed forces with nuclear technology is a realistic scenario, given the right conditions.

The publication also points out that Ukraine has made significant progress in developing its own ballistic missiles. According to preliminary estimates, the possible range of such weapons could be around 1000 kilometers, which would potentially allow Kyiv to expand its capabilities.