The Times: Ukraine could build nuclear bomb in months if US aid drops

Ukraine could develop a basic nuclear weapon within months, similar to the bomb the US dropped on Nagasaki in 1945, to deter Russia if Washington reduces military aid, according to The Times, citing a briefing paper prepared for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.

The document suggests Ukraine could rapidly create a plutonium-based device using technology akin to the "Fat Man" bomb deployed on Nagasaki in 1945.

"Creating a simple atomic bomb, as the United States did within the framework of the Manhattan Project, would not be a difficult task 80 years later," the report says.

Without the time to construct or operate large facilities for uranium enrichment, Ukraine would rely on plutonium extracted from spent fuel rods taken from its nuclear reactors, according to The Times.

Ukraine still controls nine nuclear reactors and retains significant expertise, despite surrendering the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal of 1,734 strategic warheads in 1996.

"The weight of reactor plutonium available to Ukraine can be estimated at seven tons … A significant nuclear weapons arsenal would require much less material … the amount of material is sufficient for hundreds of warheads with a tactical yield of several kilotons," the report states.