Ukraine "Prepares for Russian Nuclear Attack, Installs Over 400 Shelters in Kyiv"

"Russia Can Do Anything"
Russia Holds About 2,000 Tactical Nuclear Warheads

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Ukraine announced that it has installed more than 400 nuclear fallout shelters around the capital city of Kyiv in preparation for a tactical nuclear weapon attack by Russia. Concerns and tensions over the possibility of a nuclear strike have escalated as news emerged that Russian military leaders directly discussed the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

On the 2nd (local time), Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of Kyiv, stated in an interview with the local media outlet Hromadske, "In preparation for a Russian nuclear attack, 425 nuclear fallout shelters have been installed around Kyiv, and residents have been informed of the shelter locations. We plan to install receivers in each shelter by the 15th of this month, and evacuation vehicles are also ready."

He added, "Over the past eight months, the Russian military has shown that they are capable of doing anything," emphasizing, "We are always preparing for the worst-case scenario." This indicates that the possibility of a Russian nuclear attack is significant enough to warrant such preparations.

Concerns about Russia’s use of tactical nuclear weapons are already spreading both inside and outside Ukraine. Earlier, The New York Times (NYT) reported, citing a senior official from the Joe Biden administration, that Russian military leaders discussed the timing and methods of using tactical nuclear weapons on the Ukrainian front.

Russia is known to possess approximately 2,000 tactical nuclear warheads. These warheads can be mounted on conventional missiles and artillery shells for launch. Although their explosive power and radioactive contamination levels are significantly lower than those of strategic nuclear weapons, their use in urban warfare in densely populated metropolitan areas could result in massive casualties.

Meanwhile, the Russian government has outright denied the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the same day, saying, "Russia’s top priority is to prevent military conflicts between nuclear-armed states," dismissing the possibility of nuclear weapon use. However, as Russian forces have begun to suffer significant setbacks on key Ukrainian fronts, the possibility continues to be raised that Russia might use low-yield tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield to slow the advance of Ukrainian forces.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.