US rejects Russian claims of Ukrainian ‘dirty bomb’ attack
The White House has repeatedly rejected Russia’s talk of a possible “dirty bomb” attack in Ukraine as the war enters its ninth month.
The White House has repeatedly rejected Russia’s talk of a possible “dirty bomb” attack in Ukraine as the war enters its ninth month.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu delivered a stark warning by to his British, French, Turkish and U.S. counterparts over the weekend that Ukrainian forces were preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device — a so-called dirty bomb. Britain, France, and the United States rejected that claim as “transparently false.”
A dirty bomb uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste in an effort to sow terror. Such weapons don’t have the devastating destruction of a nuclear explosion, but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination
Ukraine has rejected Moscow’s claims as an attempt to distract attention from its own plans to detonate a dirty bomb.
The White House on Monday again underscored that the Russian allegations were false.
“It’s just not true. We know it’s not true,” John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said. “In the past, the Russians have, on occasion, blamed others for things that they were planning to do.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Moscow itself was setting the stage for deploying a radioactive device on Ukrainian soil.
The country’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Monday he has urged the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to immediately send an inspection team to the country to dispel Moscow’s claims. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in response that it was preparing “safeguards visits” in the coming days.
Image: AP
