Kiev - The Ukraine yesterday began breaking up the first of its 44 warplanes capable of carrying nuclear bombs, under a disarmament agreement with the United States.
A Defence Ministry spokesman said the tail of a Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber had been cut off at a military base near the town of Pryluky, some 160 km east of the capital of Kiev.
The event was viewed by three US senators, including Mr Richard Lugar, who helped to draw up the US programme which aids the elimination of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union.