Espreso. Global
OPINION

Nuclear weapons for Ukraine: How propaganda affects the grasp of reality

9 January, 2025 Thursday
11:12

Here is a recent example of how government propaganda and state television convinced Ukrainians that having nuclear weapons is cool

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73% of Ukrainians favor the idea of their country having its own nuclear weapons, 20% do not support it, and 7% are undecided on this issue.

However, no one explains to Ukrainians that this will not change anything.

First, for such weapons to really cause significant damage to Russia, you need to have a lot of them. Not 10 small warheads, but hundreds of large ones. For comparison, China has only about 500 warheads.

And Israel's few dozen warheads do not protect it from constant attacks.

Second, having a large number of warheads also means significant costs for delivery systems. Ukraine would require many ultra-modern missiles, most likely hypersonic ones. This is not only expensive but also a time-consuming process, contrary to what some may believe.

Third, the use of nuclear weapons would trigger a guaranteed response, as Russia's territory is far larger than what Ukraine could reach, even with a significant number of large warheads. For Ukraine, this would result in a guaranteed loss in such a war.

Fourth, the use of small tactical warheads would mean deploying these weapons near Ukraine's borders or even on Ukrainian territory. As a result, Ukraine would face casualties from its own weapons and would be guaranteed to receive a response that could devastate the entire country.

Fifth, using nuclear weapons would eliminate Ukraine's chances of joining the EU, NATO, or any other organizations. It would also cost tens of billions of dollars, with no clear plan for dealing with the weapons afterward. Maintaining them would also be expensive, yet ultimately useless.

Unfortunately, there’s little hope that anyone will explain this to Ukrainians. Instead, they’ll likely be convinced that acquiring a miracle weapon is the priority, rather than seeking diplomatic solutions to end the war.

Source

About the author. Serhiy Huz, journalist

The editorial board does not always share the opinions expressed by the blog authors.

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