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ichii3d t1_iti9ra4 wrote

The thing I struggle to view is how nuclear munitions are transported, especially if things are more tactical. Like using an nuclear artillery shell. I imagine that's not just lumbered in with other rounds and would have a special team around it to handle it?

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ChaplainParker t1_itifqw4 wrote

Their own security detail, special arming instructions/protocols, other failsafes.

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ichii3d t1_itigh89 wrote

It seems like would be large enough to not go unnoticed to intelligence agencies in the west.

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ChaplainParker t1_itigpxq wrote

Most of the time it doesn’t. But there are different ways to mask that kind of movement, and then the fog of war things can happen.

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iHeartSpam671 t1_itqicku wrote

Sometimes, you just do it like the Cullinan Diamond and move it in plain sight.

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Beard_o_Bees t1_itilqn5 wrote

Ostensibly, for any kind of legit nuclear munition, there's a pretty strict chain of custody - which is why terrorists haven't managed to get one (we hope).

For the 'dirty bomb' - i'm actually kind of surprised that one hasn't ever been used. Just access to some sort of radio-nucleotide, like what's used in medical imaging equipment and explosives.

It would be pretty far-fetched for Russia to claim that Ukraine would explode such a weapon on their own soil - or even on Russian soil, I think.

Then again, Russia has been getting their asses handed to them on the battlefield, and you just know that Putin is the kind of psycho that would rather watch the world burn than admit any kind of defeat.... pretty touchy situation for a country that has access to the full rainbow of real nuclear weaponry.

I can only hope that there's some kind of plan within the Russian government/military to take him the fuck out before it goes that far.

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gravescd t1_itirli6 wrote

Makes you wonder if it's possible that the complete shitshow of Russian politics right now is itself a deterrent against coups. Like, who would actually want to take this hot turd out of Putin's hands? It would be an act of either saintly altruism or megalomaniacal delusion.

That said, who knows if Putin is actually the trigger man in such an operation. If he really wants it happen, the order could be given well in advance and require no more input from him or anyone else in a sensitive position. For all we know, Putin's death could be the contingency that greenlights a nuclear attack. And I'm very doubtful that the entire chain of command will just stop caring about Ukraine. As much as we like to think Putin is pulling everyone's strings, wars just do not happen without enthusiastic obedience all the way down.

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gravescd t1_itiq7ph wrote

Based on what we've seen from the Russian army so far, I expect such a weapon will absolutely be packed in with other stuff that looks similar, discovered by some luckless soldier from a backwater without working toilets, then sold on the black market in Belarus for a carton of cigarettes and a poorly forged EU-nation passport.

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No_Discipline_7380 t1_itlwagf wrote

Yeah, it's not the kind of thing that usually goes unnoticed. American surveillance probably catches a lot of such movements, I doubt Biden starting giving ultimatums out of the blue...

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