I have to agree that the Ukraineans could almost certainly not maintained their stockpile - wasn't critical components of their nuclear weapons made in other SSRs?
They probably could have built up a own nuclear capability though, but seeing how poor Ukraine has performed economically over the decades - and that is with many tens of billions of Russian aid - I doubt they would have had the industrial capacity to carry it through even if they almost certainly had the nuclear know-how back then.
I will dig up the paper this week that explains why Ukraine couldn't maintain the stockpile.
I have to agree that the Ukraineans could almost certainly not maintained their stockpile - wasn't critical components of their nuclear weapons made in other SSRs?
They probably could have built up a own nuclear capability though, but seeing how poor Ukraine has performed economically over the decades - and that is with many tens of billions of Russian aid - I doubt they would have had the industrial capacity to carry it through even if they almost certainly had the nuclear know-how back then.