According to Laurence Norman, journalist for the Wall Street Journal, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi told the Davos Forum that 30 tons of plutonium and 40 tons of enriched uranium are stockpiled at the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporijjia.

The enrichment rate of the uranium is not specified. Uranium enriched to 5% can only be used for civil purposes;

weapons manufacturing requires a threshold of 80%.

On 19 February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, announced to NATO officials that his country was considering calling into question the Budapest Memorandum (1994) so that it could acquire nuclear weapons against Russia.

On 21 February 2022, President Vladimir Putin alluded to a Ukrainian nuclear program, saying: “The only thing missing [in Ukraine] is a uranium enrichment system. But this is a technical question, and for Ukraine not an insurmountable problem.”

On 24 February 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine, noting that she was acting within the framework of international law.