Nuclear Arms Threat in Crimea

By Wolodymyr (Walter) Derzko

On the eve of the G8 and G20 Summits in Muskoka and Toronto held June 25-27, various academics and the NGO community members were invited to attend a web video-conference across Canada on June 15, 2010.  It was called G8/G20 outreach consultation on G8 and G20 2010: Canada’s Objectives and Opportunities for the Muskoka and Toronto summits.

Unfortunately, no Ukrainian organization took advantage of this invitation nor the opportunity to raise concerns.  The summit organizers included Len Edwards, the Prime Minister’s Personal Representative to the G8/G20 Summits, Keith Christie, Foreign Affairs (DFAIT) Sous-Sherpa, Yves Brodeur, Assistant Deputy Minister,
International Security Branch, and Political Director, Christine Hogan, Vice-President, Canadian International Development Agency, Graham Flack, G8 /G20 Finance Sous-Sherpa and David Angell, the Prime Minister’s Personal Representative on Africa in the G8.  In the video-conference preamble, the summit organizers lauded Canada’s record
of leadership in international peace and security and the need to hold member states accountable for the use of nuclear weapons.  That presented a perfect lead-in to my concerns - I raised the issue of nuclear missile disarmament and the Russian Black Sea fleet in Crimea.  When Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal and became a nuclear free
state, its security was guaranteed by the USA, the UK and Russia by a signed multi-lateral treaty.

Now, Russia may be jeopardizing that security.

I’ve been speaking to Ukrainian political party opposition members and security analysts from the political science department of the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, who suspect that the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which is stationed in Sevastopil, Crimea, may be deploying nuclear weapons.

At the very least, Canada, which supported Ukraine’s free elections during the Orange Revolution has a moral responsibility to promote democracy and security in Ukraine, especially when it seems to be backsliding.

The possible presence of nuclear weapons on Ukrainian soil is against Ukraine’s Constitution and should be raised at the G8 Summit with the USA and Great Britain as a pending security threat to the Black Sea region, Europe and NATO.  Since both these G8 members are security guarantors, this issue needs to be addressed at an international level.

In a May 21 story, titled “Experts view return of Russian security agents to Crimea as threat to Ukraine,” the author asks: “Why do the Russians not allow verification in the fleet?

Russia today “will lay down its life to prevent verification, checks of the weapons and contents of the vessels that come to us”, political scientist Yevhen Zherebetskyy noted.  In his words, Russia is seriously planning to change and upgrade its fleet.  Under this plan, big ocean-going ships will soon be moved somewhere or simply dismantled, and in their place corvettes and short range missile ships will appear for inland seas because Russia does not need big ships strategically speaking, the expert said. 

“There also exists a problem connected with nuclear weapons.  For example, at present the flagship Moskva has 16 tactical missiles, but what else it has is unknown. Although, nuclear warheads can be placed on it.  In other words, ammunition on all missile ships and helicopters can be replaced by nuclear weapons.  And we cannot check this, because we have no apparatus for remote verification of the type of weapons on ships of the Black Sea Fleet.  There is such apparatus on one helicopter, but even that belongs to the Black Sea Fleet,” Mr. Zherebetskyy said, explaining the essence of the problem.  Ukraine is a non-nuclear state and so there cannot be military units on its territory carrying nuclear weapons on board.  “If we renounced nuclear weapons and Russia is a guarantor of our security, then we have an absolute right to check whether there are such weapons on Russian ships stationed on the territory of our state.  The Russians are not allowing this.  And correspondingly, Russian counter-intelligence will work hard to prevent our intelligence agents from finding out about these things,” Yevhen Zherebetskyy said.

The response from DFAIT during the video-conference was predictable.  They claim that they are aware of the expansion plans of the Russian Black Sea fleet but feel that this is a bilateral issue between Ukraine and Russia.  This is a puzzling, inconsistent policy application.  Why is the illegal use of nuclear weapons by Iran and North Korea  considered an international nuclear threat, worthy of international attention and sanctions by the UN Security Council, yet when it comes to Russia, it’s only an insignificant local bilateral issue?  Canada is obviously side-stepping this issue, because understandably, it is reluctant to “rock the boat” (pun intended) with a fellow G8 member, especially Russia.

The Ukrainian World Congress has a strategic role to play here by addressing and lobbying this concern locally with the governments of the USA and Great Britain, which are two of Ukraine’s security guarantor nations.