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Updated October 2009
Nuclear Overview
Upon the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world after the Russian Federation and the United States. In addition to 130 SS-19 and 46 SS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and 25 Tu-95 and 19 Tu-160 strategic bombers with air-launched cruise missiles and an estimated 1,900 strategic warheads, Ukraine's arsenal contained around 2,275 tactical nuclear weapons located on its territory.
Domestic opposition notwithstanding, Ukraine swiftly moved towards denuclearization, as articulated in the January 1994 Trilateral Statement. It joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapon state in 1994, acceded to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), and became nuclear-weapons-free in 1996 upon transferring all of its nuclear warheads to Russia for elimination. Dismantlement and destruction of Ukraine's weapons and delivery systems was made possible by funding from the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program (the CTR Umbrella Agreement for Ukraine was signed in 1993 and extended in 1999) and compensation, provided by the Russian Federation in the form of fuel for Ukraine's nuclear power reactors. By January 2002, all strategic bombers on Ukrainian territory had been dismantled, transferred to Russia, or converted to non-military use, all ICBMs had been eliminated or disassembled pending elimination, and all ICBM silos had been destroyed (see Ukraine's missile dismantlement chronology for more information).
Following accession to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) concluded a nuclear safeguards in 1995. The state has been a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group since 1996. Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (parliament) ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 2000 and the Additional Protocol in 2005.
Find additional information on Ukraine's nuclear reductions under the START Treaty, and related nuclear weapons treaty commitments.
This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for
Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently
verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2010 by MIIS.
