KYIV, Ukraine – A top Kyiv official says that more than 400 fallout shelters have been prepared in the capital and similar measures are being taken elsewhere across the country to prepare for a possible nuclear attack from Russia.
“I’m preparing for the worst, but I hope everything will be fine,” said the official, Oleksiy Kuleba, head of the Kyiv regional military government. told Hromadskea Ukrainian news agency, in an interview published Tuesday.
Authorities are designating 425 shelters for use in a nuclear emergency and are equipping them with necessary supplies, he said. Evacuation routes are being updated in cities, towns and villages. All emergency personnel are being trained and equipped with protective gear. And authorities are developing communication methods to alert the public if an attack is imminent, including through government hotlines, radio stations and cars equipped with loudspeakers. bar.
Worries that the Kremlin might turn to its nuclear arsenal when it encounters defeat on the battlefield have deepened since Russian President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, in a speech in September, raising the specter of using such weapons to hold on to Moscow’s dwindling territorial interests.
And on Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, repeated baseless claims that Ukraine is trying to make a “”dirty bomb. Such allegations, made during a meeting with the joint governing boards of the Belarusian and Russian military agencies, echo earlier accusations by Russian officials that Western officials have denied. abandoned, suggesting that Moscow could be trying to create an excuse to launch its own attack.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that “Moscow’s top priority is to prevent any military clash by nuclear powers.” However, senior US officials still expressed concern about Putin’s ability to deploy tactical nuclear weaponsare less productive and are used at shorter ranges than the warheads carried on intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday Senior leaders of the Russian military recently had conversations to discuss when and how Moscow might use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, contributing to heightened concerns there. Washington and allied capitals, according to several senior US officials.
While US officials say they see no evidence that the Russians are moving nuclear weapons into position or taking other tactical measures to prepare for an attack, local authorities and States across Ukraine are taking steps to educate the public and prepare.
In the event of a nuclear attack, Kuleba said, the first priority is to find shelter.
Kyiv people have become familiar with their local shelter, with more than 1,000 registered bunkers spread across the Kyiv region, he said. But many simple basements, some with windows facing the street, are not suitable for protection from nuclear fallout. 425 special bunkers are located deeper underground, more solid and better ventilated.
The next priority, he said, is communication. A nuclear attack would most likely bring down phone service. With that in mind, all designated shelters will be equipped with battery-powered portable radios in the next two weeks, he said.
Mr Kuleba said all emergency services in the Kyiv region have been given radiation protective equipment and emergency medical workers have completed training on how to respond in the event of an attack. Nuclear.
The danger of nuclear radiation can feel very real in Ukraine, a country that still have scars of the 1986 Chernobyl accident, one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. Chernobyl is located about 60 miles north of Kyiv.
Valeriya Safronova contribution report.
