After the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine found itself in possession of a substantial nuclear stockpile. However, the financial constraints and geopolitical risks associated with maintaining these weapons led Ukraine to voluntarily surrender them. The 1994 Budapest Memorandum provided security assurances to Ukraine, but these guarantees were called into question when Russia annexed Crimea and backed separatists in Ukraine. The current Russia-Ukraine conflict serves as a stark reminder of Ukraine’s security vulnerabilities in the absence of nuclear deterrence.