Western countries have accused Russia of conspiring to use the threat of a dirty bomb laced with nuclear material as a pretext for escalation in Ukraine as Moscow evacuated civilians from a southern city in anticipation of a major battle.
As Ukrainian troops advance into the Russian-occupied Kherson province, top Russian officials on Sunday and Monday called their Western counterparts to tell them that Moscow suspected Kiev of planning to use a so-called dirty bomb.
In a joint statement on Monday, foreign ministers of France, the United Kingdom and the United States said they had all rejected the allegations and reaffirmed their support for Ukraine against Russia.
“Our countries have made it clear that we all reject Russia’s transparent false accusations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” they said. “The world would see through any attempt to use this claim as a pretext for escalation.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu called his Western colleagues on Sunday. British Defense Staff Chief Tony Radakin again dismissed Russian allegations Monday in a meeting with Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Russia’s RIA news agency reported that on Monday, eight months to the day since Russia invaded Ukraine, Gerasimov also spoke with the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the aim of a dirty bombing by Ukraine would be to blame Russia for the resulting radioactive contamination.
“The aim of the provocation would be to accuse Russia of using a weapon of mass destruction in the Ukrainian military theater and thus launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign into the world,” it said, adding that it had prepared. to work in conditions of radioactive contamination.
Reporting from Kiev, Harry Fawcett of Al Jazeera said Russia’s dirty bomb allegations are seen by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “an attempt by the Russians to escalate the rhetoric and may be the basis for some sort of false flag” -attack.
“[Zelenskyy] said these claims from Russia were absurd and dangerous, … that Ukraine was a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and had no such nuclear capabilities or ambitions and that when Russia makes these kinds of accusations, it means that it itself is planning something along those lines’, said Fawcett.
Evacuation of Kherson
Russia has ordered civilians to evacuate territory it controls on the western bank of the Dnipro River, where Ukrainian forces have been advancing since early this month, shortly after Moscow claimed it annexed the area.
A Russian defeat there would be one of Moscow’s greatest setbacks to date.
The regional capital of Kherson is the only major city Russia has conquered intact since the February 24 invasion, and the only foothold on the western bank of the Dnipro, which bisects Ukraine. The province controls the gateway to Crimea, the peninsula that Russia seized and claimed to have annexed in 2014.
Russian-installed authorities in Kherson announced Monday that men left behind have the option of joining a military self-defense unit. Kiev accuses Russia of forcing men in occupied territories into military formations, a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military espionage, said Russian forces were preparing to defend the city of Kherson, not retreat.
“They create the illusion that all is lost. But at the same time, they are bringing in new military units and preparing to defend the streets of Kherson,” he told online media outlet Ukrainska Pravda.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Facebook that Russian forces had launched three rocket attacks and seven airstrikes across Ukraine in the past day, damaging infrastructure in heavily disputed areas of the east Donetsk region and in the Kharkiv region. in the northeast liberated from Russian occupation last month.
About 10 towns were attacked in the Zaporizhzhya region of central Ukraine, as well as eight towns on the southern front.
Meanwhile, Kiev on Monday accused Russia of purposely delaying the arrival from Turkey of more than 165 cargo ships heading to Ukrainian ports to be loaded with grain.
Russian inspectors “have significantly extended the inspection of ships. … As a result, more than 165 ships have been stranded in a queue near the Bosphorus and this number continues to grow daily,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
“We have reason to believe that the delays in Russia’s inspections of the grain initiative ships are politically motivated,” it added.