200 Soviet nukes lost in Ukraine

13.09.2002 | Source:

Pravda.Ru

A nuke scandal is gathering steam

Pyotr Simonenko, the leader of the Ukrainian Communist Party released a sensational statement on Wednesday. In his words, there were 2400 nuclear warheads in Ukraine, although the export of only 2200 of them was officially documented. Simonenko claimed that nobody knows where 200 Soviet-era nukes in Ukraine are.

The official reaction followed the next day, but it was a rather weak one. Deputy chief of the Ukrainian Army Headquarters, Nikolay Goncharenko, declared that Simonenko’s statement regarding the disappearance of the nuclear weapons from the territory of Ukraine was absolutely groundless. The high-ranking military official stated that all weapons of the trilateral agreement concerning the execution of the contract for strategic offensive arms had been handed over to Russia. Ok, but how come the leader of Ukrainian communists counted 200 nukes? It seems that the nuke scandal will continue.

Andrey Lubensky PRAVDA.Ru Kiev Ukraine

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2002/09/12/46993.html

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