A team was sent to place sensors that would blame Moscow for any potential incident, the NYT reports
The administration of US President Joe Biden is preparing for a possible nuclear attack in Ukraine by wiring the country with a network of sensors that can identify the origin of any atomic strike, the New York Times has reported.
The sensors would be able to detect the radiation from either a dirty bomb or a nuclear weapon, the outlet said on Friday, citing Washington\u2019s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
\u201cIn part, the goal is to make sure that if Russia detonates a radioactive weapon on Ukrainian soil, its atomic signature and Moscow\u2019s culpability could be verified,\u201d the newspaper said.
The network of radiation sensors is being deployed \u201cthroughout the region\u201d and would be able to \u201ccharacterize the size, location and effects of any nuclear explosion,\u201d according to a NNSA unit called the Nuclear Energy Support Team (NEST). The unit is reportedly working with Ukraine to install the sensors, train workers, monitor data, and warn of dangerous levels of radiation.
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NEST added that data from the sensors would deny Russia \u201cany opportunity to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine without attribution.\u201d The Times said that this \u201cgoes to the fog of nuclear war and how the United States could use the new system to pierce it.\u201d
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last month that tactical nuclear weapons would be placed in Belarus as early as this summer, in response to the UK\u2019s decision to provide Ukraine with depleted uranium munitions. He has denied having any intention of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but he also has pledged to use \u201call means available to protect Russia.\u201d
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Responding to accusations of using \u201cirresponsible nuclear rhetoric,\u201d Russian officials have pointed to hypocrisy on the part of the US and NATO, noting that Western leaders ignore the fact that the US has long had nuclear weapons stationed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and T\u00fcrkiye.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pointed out that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently lamented the suffering of the Japanese people from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while failing to mention that Washington carried them out \u2013 the only such strikes in world history.
The Times claimed that US radiation sensors could help prevent Moscow from carrying out a \u2018false-flag\u2019 nuclear attack, such as claiming that Kiev detonated a bomb on the battlefield to provoke more direct Western intervention in the conflict. The US Energy Department is spending around $160 million this year on nuclear precautions in Ukraine and has requested a similar amount of funding for the purpose in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n