Likely Russian PSYOP: political scientist on Ukraine's possible return to nuclear status

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"Regarding Ukraine's possible return to nuclear status, I do not exclude that this is Russian PSYOP. Firstly, after Bild published this information, other Western media picked up this topic for more clickable headlines. Second, what will we use to make these nuclear weapons? We gave away enriched uranium back in the days of Yanukovych, for his right to shake hands with Barack Obama (44th President of the United States - ed.), and there was a summit on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons," said the Executive Director of the Institute of World Policy.

According to him, enriched uranium is not a commodity that can be bought on the world market. As for the purchase of the relevant centrifuges, the issue is their energy supply during the war.

"Iran is not at war, but it is still on the verge of creating a nuclear bomb, as far as I understand. Because the logic of the Iranian leadership's behavior would show if they had this weapon. And this would be a powerful signal to Israel. Regarding the movement of such weapons, I would note that, unfortunately or fortunately, the Constitution of Ukraine currently prohibits the deployment of foreign military bases on Ukrainian territory. Should the Constitution be changed? I don't know of any such legal mechanisms yet. In addition, we must understand that there is a thing called radiophobia in the West, which is very afraid of nuclear weapons. This radiophobia has been formed over decades. And since 2022, we have been criticizing Russia for attempts at nuclear blackmail. Therefore, in this situation, for Ukraine, it is a game in which it is naive to promise to use nuclear weapons without having them," Yevhen Mahda summarized.

• On October 18, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev pushed the narrative that Ukraine was working on a 'dirty bomb.'