Putin, without evidence, escalates Ukraine attack allegations – POLITICO

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Ukraine plans to use a « dirty bomb » on its own territory to trap Russia for the attack – the latest in a recent string of Kremlin claims, made without any evidence, that Kyiv is planning a such act.

A so-called dirty bomb is not an atomic weapon because it does not generate an explosion by nuclear fission, but rather causes a conventional explosion to contaminate the surrounding area with radioactive materials.

As dirty bomb rhetoric has intensified in recent days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia itself may be plotting the so-called false flag attack, as Western countries unconditionally reject claims of Moscow over Ukraine.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu kicked off the Kremlin charade on Sunday, telling his counterparts in the UK, France and Turkey in a series of phone calls that Kyiv was planning a ‘provocation’ involving a radioactive device .

On Monday, Russian Army Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov echoed the allegation that Kyiv « plans to carry out a provocation by detonating the so-called dirty bomb or low-power nuclear warhead ».

On Tuesday, Russia then sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council accusing Ukraine of preparing to use the dirty bomb on its own territory, without publicly providing any evidence. After the council met behind closed doors, the British ambassador to the UN dismissed the claim, saying it was « transparently false » and adding that « we have not seen or heard of any new evidence during this private meeting ».

Wednesday, Shoygu reiterated those claims in calls with Chinese and Indian defense ministers.

Allied countries have repeatedly rejected Russian allegations, with the British, French and American foreign ministers saying on Monday that « our countries have made it clear that we all reject Russia’s patently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory”.

Zelenskyy also hit back at Russian accusations on Sunday, warning that “if Russia calls and says Ukraine is planning something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all of this.”

The Kremlin’s accusations are not entirely new. In 2015, Moscow accused Kyiv of carrying out « nuclear programs to create either nuclear weapons or a ‘dirty bomb' » that would turn the country « into a rogue state ».