Before the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was the bridgehead of the Soviet Union against NATO, so a large number of intercontinental missiles and nuclear weapons were deployed. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, Ukraine inherited a large number of troops, advanced weapons and equipment and strategic reserves from the former Soviet Union. This includes 780,000 troops, 6,500 tanks, 7 150 armored vehicles, 1500 aircraft, 350 warships, 1272 intercontinental missile nuclear warheads and 2,500 tactical nuclear weapons. At that time, Ukraine became the third largest nuclear weapon country in the world, but Ukraine chose to destroy nuclear weapons for the following four reasons.
First, the United States and Russia jointly pressured, coerced and lured. At that time, Ukraine had so many nuclear weapons that it was a great threat to NATO and Russia. Neither side wants to put such a big time bomb at their doorstep. As a result, they jointly pressured Ukraine to destroy all nuclear weapons, and promised not only to help destroy nuclear weapons, but also to give Ukraine economic assistance afterwards. In this way, Ukraine actually believed their story under threats and inducements, which is the most important reason for Ukraine to destroy nuclear weapons.
Second, Ukraine is worried about nuclear leakage, and the painful lessons of the Chernobyl nuclear accident are still fresh in the memory of the Ukrainian people. So many nuclear weapons are like time bombs. Ukraine is worried about accidents such as nuclear leakage and explosion, which are caused by itself.
Third, Ukraine cannot afford the high maintenance costs. At that time, the Soviet Union left Ukraine with a large number of nuclear weapons, and the maintenance cost of these nuclear weapons was extremely high. For Ukraine, which was poor at that time and sold weapons for daily necessities, it was absolutely impossible to feed these big guys.
Fourth, these nuclear weapons are useless, just ticking time bombs. Although the disintegration of the Soviet Union left Ukraine with a large number of nuclear weapons, the codes of these nuclear weapons are in the hands of Russia. Ukraine doesn't have a password, which means it just has a powerful time bomb in its hand and can only blow itself up. There are no eggs to use, but it may kill you. Ukraine, on the other hand, has no desire for hegemony. He just wants to live a good life.
To sum up, Ukraine finally chose to destroy nuclear weapons and become a non-nuclear country. After so many years, Ukraine, a military power that inherited a lot of advanced equipment from the Soviet Union, is now a weak chicken. I wonder if he regrets it now?