Defense ministers witness demolition of missile silo in Ukraine (01/14/96)

Defense ministers witness demolition of missile silo in Ukraine

by Borys Klymenko
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KYIV - The defense ministers of Ukraine and Russia, and the defense secretary of the United States traveled to Pervomaiske, 250 kilometers south of the Ukrainian capital, on January 5 to witness the destruction of an ICBM missile silo - one of 130 that are to be destroyed by November of 1998 in accordance with provisions of the START I disarmament treaty.

The silo was actually the third destroyed by Ukraine; Leonid Kuchma, reported the Open Media Research Institute.

Messrs. Perry and Shmarov also signed an agreement on closer military cooperation between the United States and Ukraine.

The three defense officials flew from Kyiv to Pervomaiske on January 5, but due to inclement weather their plane was forced to land not at the airport near that city in Mykolayiv Oblast, but on an icy runway in Uman, Cherkasy Oblast. From there the entourage traveled some 90 kilometers by car to the base of the 43rd Strategic Missile Forces.

Demolition of the missile silo at Pervomaiske got under way at 1 p.m., four hours later than scheduled.

Tripartite agreement paved the way

On January 14, 1994, Ukraine had signed a tripartite agreement with the United States and Russia, thus paving the way for Ukraine's disarmament and the destruction of its nuclear arms. At the time, Ukraine possessed 1,300 warheads for intercontinental ballistic missiles and more than 600 cruise missile warheads. It had 176 silos for strategic nuclear missiles: 130 SS-19s and 46 SS-24s. Thus, it was the world's third largest nuclear power.

However, Ukraine had stated in 1990 in its Declaration on State Sovereignty that it would abide by three non-nuclear principles: not to accept, not to provide and not to procure nuclear weapons. Then, in 1993, the Ukrainian Supreme Council ratified START 1.

As of the end of 1995, 90 percent of Ukraine's missiles had been deactivated; 70 percent of its warheads had been transferred to Russia, where they are being destroyed under international supervision, including representatives of the Ukrainian military.

Comments by Grachev

Speaking in Kyiv, Defense Minister Grachev proposed that Russia and Ukraine prolong the period of joint control over the Black Sea Fleet, which expired at the beginning of the year. He said the removal of nuclear weapons was proceeding according to plan, with only 26 percent of Ukraine's original nuclear warheads still in the country.

He warned officers at a Ukrainian military college on January 3 that Russians would be "obliged to re-examine our views on the role and place of tactical the first two, one a training site and the other a functioning silo, were destroyed earlier as technology was under development for further destruction of Ukraine's nuclear missile silos.

U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry and Russian Defense Minister Pavel Grachev had arrived in Ukraine on January 3 for talks with their Ukrainian counterpart, Defense Minister Valeriy Shmarov. The three held meetings among themselves and later met with President nuclear weapons [and] review our treaty obligations in the military sphere" should NATO expand into Eastern Europe.

Respublika reported that Minister Grachev later responded to journalists' questions in Pervomaiske on the expansion of NATO by stating that Russia continues to oppose its eastward expansion. "Let NATO expand westward," he said.

Mr. Perry, meanwhile, said that "NATO does not pose a threat to any country," and underlined that it is a defense organization. He added that, regardless of whether NATO accepts new members, "NATO, Russia and Ukraine should cooperate."

Commenting on President Kuchma's meeting with the three defense officials, Kostiantyn Hryshchenko, Ukraine's deputy minister for foreign affairs, said the meeting followed up on implementation of the 1994 tripartite accord.

He added that Russia, as party to that agreement, is compensating Ukraine for the nuclear warheads transferred to its territory with fuel assemblies for Ukraine's nuclear power stations. He added that the last warheads will be removed from Ukrainian territory when Ukraine receives the final shipment of those fuel assemblies.

Deputy Minister Hryshchenko also commented on meetings of the three defense officials. He reported that Messrs. Shmarov, Perry and Grachev had spoken about European security and the situation in Bosnia, and had discussed the possibility of trilateral military training exercises.

Reaction in Ukraine

People's Deputy Borys Oliynyk, who chairs the Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs and Relations with the CIS, noted that he considered the silo destruction a Christmas gift. He said disarmament must proceed, but he added that, despite Ukraine's good will and voluntary renunciation of nuclear weapons, the world has not reacted to territorial claims made against it by Romania (i.e., the territory of Serpent Island, located in the Black Sea).

There was some negative reaction from various groups, including the Ukrainian National Assembly, which released a statement criticizing Ukrainian officials as traitors, and called on Americans and Russians not to meddle in Ukraine's affairs.

Yuri Tyma, a UNA member and a people's deputy from Ternopil, told Reuters that "Satanic forces are preying on the most sacred thing we have - nuclear missiles.'' He added, "Ukraine needs these rockets to win respect in the world."

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