Kremlin’s lies about Ukraine’s plans to use dirty bomb ‘aim to force acceptance of occupation’
Andriy Yusov (Photo:Screenshot/YouTube/Suspilne News)
The Kremlin’s unsubstantiated claims that Ukraine plans to use a dirty bomb are aimed at forcing Kyiv to accept the occupation of its territory and force it into talks, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov said on Ukrainian national television on Oct. 26.
The spokesman said the Kremlin’s dirty bomb claims were an “outright fake.”
“This is an absolutely failed IPSO (information and psychological operation),” Yusov said.
“We can state that a closed meeting with representatives of diplomatic and other representative offices in Russia took place in Moscow on Oct. 24, where the special services tried to scare international representatives with a terrible threat from Ukraine – a dirty bomb.”
According to Yusov, none of the international representatives believed this.
“(That’s) because it was all done in a mess – there was no evidence,” the spokesman said.
“In addition, the whole world sees in reality who the aggressor is, and who attacked whom, who is engaged in terror against the civilian population.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Oct. 23 held phone talks with his French, British and Turkish counterparts. Shoigu expressed “concern” to all three colleagues that Ukraine was allegedly preparing false flag attacks with the use of a “dirty bomb” – referring to a nuclear weapon that functions more to spread radiation than to cause explosive damage.
Shoigu is also said to have discussed this issue with the U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, however, the details of the conversation have not been given.
The UK’s Ministry of Defense has confirmed there was a conversation between Shoigu and the country’s defense minister, Ben Wallace. They noted that the phone call took place at the request of the Russian side.
According to the UK ministry, Shoigu claimed that Ukraine was planning false flag operations with the help of Western countries, including the UK, to escalate the conflict. Wallace denied the claims and warned Shoigu that such accusations should not be used as a pretext for further escalation.
The Ukrainian government has denied Russia’s unsubstantiated dirty bomb claims. It has said Ukraine neither possesses the capability to create a dirty bomb, nor the desire to do so, and has shown no interest in nuclear weapons since its signing of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, where it traded the nuclear weapons left on its territory following the collapse of the Soviet Union for security guarantees from Russia, the UK and the United States.
In a joint statement released on Oct. 23, the governments of the United States, France and the United Kingdom rejected allegations made by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that Ukraine was allegedly preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.
The countries reiterated their steadfast support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression, and said they remained committed to continuing their support for Ukraine’s efforts to defend its territory, for as long as it takes.
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