Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 61, October - November 2001

News Review

Ukraine Completes Denuclearisation Process

On October 30, the last nuclear missile silo on the territory of Ukraine was destroyed in the last stage of the programme to dismantle the extensive nuclear weapons infrastructure - including 130 SS-19 and 46 SS-24 ballistic missiles, nearly 500 cruise missiles, around 1,300 warheads, and dozens of bombers - left in the country at the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The silo, near the town of Pervomaisk in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, was blown up in an operation directed by experts from the US-Ukraine Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programme. The site will now be cleared for agricultural use.

The destruction was marked by a ceremony at the site attended by Ukraine's Deputy Defence Minister Volodymyr Mikhtyuk and US CTR official Wayne Holcombe. Holcombe observed: "The significance of today is that the last intercontinental ballistic missile silo in Ukraine is gone. There are no more. You are totally nuclear free. It is an historic event and Ukraine should be very proud." Foreign Ministry official Serhiy Borodenkov stated that his country had "confirmed its commitment to secure peace and stability, and made a significant contribution to strengthening the international regime of arms non-proliferation."

On November 13, President Putin issued a statement welcoming the development, stressing Russia's contribution to the denuclearisation programme: "[T]he nuclear-free choice of Ukraine itself has been realised, and one of the basic terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons has been respected. The liquidation of the nuclear weapons withdrawn from the territory of Ukraine has again demonstrated the consistency and responsibility of Russia in questions of disarmament, [and] has shown the sincere desire of our country to develop international cooperation in the interests of the promotion of stability and security in the world. I want to especially note that at all stages of this operation, unprecedented in scale and complexity, the full safety and security of the nuclear warheads were ensured. I express sincere gratitude to the servicemen, atomic industry workers, diplomats, and all the specialists who participated in carrying out this important job."

Reports: Ukraine destroys last missile silo, Associated Press, October 30; Ukraine destroys last nuclear missile silo, Reuters, October 30; Statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin in relation to destruction of last nuclear missile withdrawn from territory of Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry Document 2001-11-13-03, November 13.