Ukraine once had the third-largest nuclear arsenal—and gave them all up by 1996

The global nuclear arms regime has slowly eroded over the past few decades

Both Russia and the United States have withdrawn from key Cold War-era arms-control pacts. Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine marked a turning point, as it suspended its participation in inspections and data-sharing agreements.

See how global nuclear arsenals surged—then shrank—by country since 1945

Worldwide nuclear stockpiles peaked at over 60,000 warheads in the mid‑1980s during the US-Soviet arms race. Today, about nine nations collectively maintain roughly 12,000 warheads, with Russia and the US still holding the majority.

Ukraine has received over $300B in Western military and financial aid

Although not a member of NATO, Ukraine has received substantial support from Western nations, primarily the United States and the European Union, totaling more than $300B in military, financial, and humanitarian assistance.

Ukraine became independent after the Soviet Union's collapse

Ukraine declared independence on Aug. 24, 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In a national referendum, over 90% of Ukrainians approved independence, establishing a democratic constitution and marking the birth of a modern sovereign state.

South Africa: the only nation to build nuclear weapons—and dismantle them by choice

During the 1980s, South Africa secretly built six uranium "gun‑type" nuclear bombs. In the 1990s, the government dismantled all its weapons and joined the NPT in 1991—the only country to fully reverse its nuclear program.

Chernobyl's remaining reactors kept running for 14 years after the explosion

Due to energy shortages in Ukraine, Chernobyl's other undamaged reactors continued operating for years. Units 1 and 2 operated until 1996 and 1991, respectively, while Reactor 3 remained online until December 15, 2000, when Ukraine finally shut down the plant.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has destabilized safety and oversight at Chernobyl

Russian forces cut power and disabled monitoring of the decommissioned nuclear power plant in 2022, endangering operators at Chernobyl. In February 2025, a Russian drone struck the confinement structure—part of broader efforts to pressure Ukraine's energy infrastructure—punching a hole in the containment shell.

The Soviet Union’s surprising first atomic test ended the US nuclear monopoly

In 1949, the USSR successfully tested its first atomic bomb—ending the US monopoly on nuclear weapons and sparking an arms race that would define the Cold War.

Russia controls about 20% of Ukraine's territory

As of February 2026, Russian forces occupy roughly one-fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea and large parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, with front lines largely unchanged for months.

Many countries remained neutral after Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, few nations outside the West imposed sanctions on Moscow. Major powers such as China, India, Brazil, and Turkey remained neutral, underscoring global divisions over how to confront Russian aggression.

Prehistoric to present day Ukraine

Recognizing the abundance of information available on the current war between Ukraine and Russia, this video focuses on the history of the region. Encapsulating Ukraine's background, the viewer will gain a better grasp of how the modern state arose from a quilt of different ethnicities, noteworthy conflicts between various groups, and more.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

The Tsar Bomba was the most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested

In 1961, the Soviet Union detonated AN602—known as the Tsar Bomba—the largest nuclear explosion in history. Newly released Russian footage starkly illustrates the unmatched destructive power of this nuclear weapon.

Chernobyl pushed the world to create rapid-alert systems for nuclear accidents

In the aftermath of the disaster, nations adopted new agreements requiring immediate international notification of nuclear accidents. They coordinated emergency assistance—efforts led by the International Atomic Energy Agency to prevent future disasters from being concealed when radiation emergencies occur.

More than 500,000 people worked to contain Chernobyl's fallout

The group—collectively referred to as "liquidators"—included firefighters, military troops, miners, engineers and sanitation crews. Beyond clearing radioactive debris and performing decontamination work, they confined radioactive material to prevent its spread into groundwater.

The origins of Putin's 'Nazism' claim in Ukraine

Ukraine has had a varied history, and is home to a rich diversity of ethnicities, religions, and people. In the time leading up to Russia's attacks on the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to Ukraine as a "Nazi nation", owing to Ukrainian nationalists' acceptance of the invading Nazis as liberators from the Soviet Union in WWII. The history is more complex than that. Read this Smithsonian Magazine article to learn more.

Testing assumptions about the war in Ukraine, one year later

Two years ago, policymakers in Washington made multiple predictions about the course of the war between Russia and Ukraine. One year later this site revisited several common assumptions about the war—for example, that Russia would swiftly defeat Ukraine—and asks several experts if they came true, or not. But things can always change.

A primer on the president's nuclear football

During the Cold War, the United States and the USSR were forced to prepare for a nuclear strike at a moment's notice, leading to a new innovation: the so-called "football" (known as the chemodanchik in Russia), a bag containing nuclear strike plans, authentication codes, and likely a communication device, which attended the country's leader wherever they went. This easy-to-read piece breaks down the history and lore around the high-stakes quirk in nuclear governance.

For decades, the US has considered building a permanent nuclear waste repository

All nuclear waste would have been stored at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, but the Obama administration indefinitely stalled the project after intense community backlash. Spent fuel is now stored at more than 80 locations in 36 states, raising safety concerns.

The alliance operates under a "flexible response" doctrine—that is, proportionality

NATO countries' main deterrent against aggression is their ability to respond with nuclear weapons. This video from "The Infographics Show" outlines the purpose of this nuclear arsenal, NATO’s strategy to prevent attacks, and its plans in the event of escalation toward nuclear war.

Ukraine's sushi restaurants have remained open through the country's war with Russia

Although the country's cities have become battlegrounds, its sushi restaurants—a popular comfort food for Ukrainians—have remained open. That's especially surprising considering they require imported fresh fish and highly skilled chefs.

The Minsk peace accords failed to end fighting in eastern Ukraine in the mid-2010s

The Minsk Agreements of 2014 and 2015 sought to halt the war in eastern Ukraine through ceasefires and political reforms, but repeated violations left the accords unenforced and the conflict unresolved.

Stalin's policies intentionally caused a devastating famine in Ukraine

The Holodomor of 1932-33 was a human-made famine resulting from Stalin's grain requisition policies, killing an estimated 3 million to 4 million Ukrainians—considered by many to be an act of genocide.

A 1983 NATO war simulation provoked the Soviets to prepare for war

The "SNAFU" podcast, hosted by actor and comedian Ed Helms, explores some of the biggest blunders in history. Season one focuses on the 1983 NATO Able Archer military exercise, a war game that simulated nuclear attacks on the Soviet Union. The USSR mistook the exercise for a genuine threat and prepared its forces for war. Helms recounts this almost catastrophic event in world history with his signature humor.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Uranium's ability to split easily makes it the most common catalyst for nuclear power

Uranium is commonly found in rocks, water, and soil worldwide, but significant industrial processes are needed to process and enrich it for efficient reactor usage. After being irradiated in reactors, it must be cooled down before disposal.

Soviet control spread across Eastern Europe after WWII

In the late 1940s, the USSR solidified control over Eastern Europe by installing pro-communist regimes in countries like Poland, Hungary and Romania—often through rigged elections and political repression.

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

Ebola species have historically been named after where they were discovered, stigmatizing residents who live there, including Bundibugyo, in Uganda.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'