Kyiv confirms its commitment to transparency and invites international experts to inspect its facilities

Russia accuses Ukraine of making a "dirty bomb"

A Ukrainian soldier stands on a tank near Borevsky, Kharkiv region.

AFP

Yesterday, Russia repeated its accusations against Ukraine, stressing that it had entered the "last stage" of making its "dirty bomb", allegations rejected by Kyiv, which invited international experts to come and inspect its facilities.

Moscow made these accusations for the first time on Sunday during phone conversations between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his American, French, British and Turkish counterparts.

A radioactive bomb or "dirty bomb" consists of conventional explosives with radioactive materials intended to disperse as dust upon explosion.

"According to the information available to us, two Ukrainian organizations have specific instructions for making a so-called dirty bomb," said General Igor Kirillov, the official in the Russian army for radioactive, chemical and biological materials.

Their work has entered the final stage.

According to him, "The purpose of this provocation is to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine, and thus to launch a massive anti-Russian campaign in the world."

Russia's Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley spoke by phone yesterday and discussed a possibility raised by Moscow that Ukraine might be using a "dirty bomb," the RIA news agency said.

The phone call took place shortly after a similar conversation between Gerasimov and his British counterpart.

Ukrainian officials immediately denied these accusations, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that these allegations were "ridiculous" and "dangerous." President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the world to "respond as harshly as possible" to the Russian accusations.

Kuleba announced, yesterday, that he had spoken with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, in this regard, and said that he “officially called on the International Atomic Energy Agency to urgently send experts to the peaceful facilities in Ukraine,” that is, the facilities that Russia “misleadingly claims.” Ukraine is developing an "atomic bomb" in it, as he put it.

He added that Grossi "accepted that, unlike Russia, Ukraine has always been and remains transparent, we have nothing to hide."

On the other hand, Paris, London and Washington described, in a joint statement yesterday, Moscow's accusations that Kiev wants to use a "dirty bomb" as "false."

Ukrainians and Westerners alike saw it as a threat to prepare for an attack, suspecting that Russia was willing to set off a "dirty bomb" to justify a military escalation, for example through the use of a tactical nuclear weapon in retaliation.

At the start of its offensive, Moscow accused Ukraine of preparing biological weapons in secret US-funded laboratories, allegations Kyiv denied.

The "dirty bomb" allegations come as Russian forces struggle on multiple fronts in Ukraine, having lost thousands of square kilometers in the country's northeast in September, and are now retreating in the southern Kherson region, where Russian authorities are organizing evacuations due to advancing troops. Kyiv.

Yesterday, the Ukrainian leadership announced that it had recaptured a total of 90 towns from Russian forces in the Kherson region, one of the four regions of Ukraine, which Moscow announced its annexation in September.

Moscow has carried out a series of large-scale strikes in recent weeks, including with Iranian-made drones, against critical infrastructure in Ukraine.

The bombing caused a power outage across the country on Sunday.

The blackout prompted the authorities to impose restrictions and call on Ukrainians to legalize their use in order to "stabilize" the electricity supply.

Yesterday, Zelensky confirmed that Russia had requested to supply "about 2,000" Iranian drones in support of its bombing campaign in Ukraine, which specifically targets electricity production facilities.

"According to our intelligence, Russia has requested to supply it with about 2,000 Iranian Shahid (drones)," Zelensky said during a conference organized by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz.

On the other hand, Zelensky criticized Israel's neutrality since the Russian war in Ukraine, which, in his opinion, made it possible to establish an "alliance" between Moscow and Tehran, particularly in providing the Russian army with Iranian drones.

During the same conference, he said, "This alliance simply would not have existed if your politicians had taken a decision at that time, the decision that we demanded," referring to Kyiv's demand to have the support of the Hebrew state in the face of Russia.

For its part, Russia condemns the "heavy increase" of Ukrainian fire targeting its border areas, especially the Belgorod and Kursk regions, where defensive lines are being built in the event of an attack.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday that "peace is possible" in Ukraine when the Ukrainians "decided", while Zelensky reiterated that he would never negotiate with Russia as long as Vladimir Putin was in power.

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