[JumpCrisscross]

> Russia alone controlled the codes needed to operate

If Ukraine had held on to those nukes, disconnected, an engineer today could re-work them to function under Kiev’s command. (American PALs from the era have de-classified weaknesses that merited upgrades. Post-USSR nuclear safekeeping was roundly criticised for decades [1].)

Even barring that, possessing fissile material is no small feat. It would give Kiev the credible capability to e.g. threaten large sections of Russian agricultural production. That’s the sort of thing that deters tanks.

[1] https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/SE-11.pdf

[LargoLasskhyfv]

And there was this: https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/05/02/weekly-document-t... and this:

https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/01/04/weekly-document-8...