Ukraine sees no Russian nuclear strike preparations
A senior Ukrainian official has stated that while Russia has the capability to launch a nuclear strike “at any moment,” Kyiv has detected no indicators of active preparation for such an attack. The issue, he said, depends on Moscow’s political will.
Russia possesses the technical capability to carry out a nuclear strike “at any moment and at any distance,” but Ukraine has observed no signs that Moscow is actively preparing such an attack, a senior official in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said Friday. Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, told The Times that while Russia’s nuclear arsenal gives it the means to act, the ultimate decision rests on political will.
No indicators of imminent strike
“I have not seen any indicators of preparation for a nuclear strike. If there were, I would know,” Budanov said. He acknowledged that Russia appeared ready to carry out recent threats of a large-scale attack on central Kyiv — following Kremlin warnings for Western countries to evacuate their embassies and suggestions of using the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile — but dismissed fears of an imminent nuclear strike as unfounded. Nonetheless, he warned that Russia’s arsenal remains a serious threat.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia has achieved nuclear capabilities with “no counterparts in the world,” as work on improving nuclear deterrence has continued uninterrupted since the early 2000s.
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