Ukraine’s Western allies have characterized as false Moscow’s unsupported allegation that Kyiv is planning to detonate a “dirty bomb” on its own soil and blame Russia for it, and the allies say it is an attempt to create a pretext to escalate the war. Ukraine also has rejected the accusation, called for more sanctions against Russia and made unbacked claims against Moscow.
Russia’s allegation has prompted a diplomatic firestorm that could spill over into a meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
A dirty bomb combines conventional explosives with radioactive material to spread panic, although no successful attack with it has ever been recorded. Here’s why the concept is getting attention now:
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the claim in weekend conversations with his counterparts in countries including the United States, France and the Britain. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Shoigu said he was worried about “possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a ‘dirty bomb,’ ” and described the situation in Ukraine as “rapidly deteriorating.”
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Diplomats from the United States, France and Britain later rebuked the claim, saying in a joint statement Sunday: “We all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.” They cast the assertion as another example of Russia’s spreading...
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