Russia warns the West of possible dirty bomb provocation in Ukraine

The USA and a number of Western countries not trust reports from the Russian side of Ukraine's intention to blow up a "dirty bomb” on its territory and blame Russia for the attack. However, such a threat persists, Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, TASS reports.

On October 23, it was reported that the Ukrainian authorities were allegedly working on a provocation to detonate a "dirty bomb" — a low-yield nuclear weapon filled with radioactive materials in combination with conventional explosives.

In this regard, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu informed the heads of defense departments of four countries about the threat. Shoygu held telephone conversations with:

• British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace;
• Turkey's Defence Minister Hulusi Akar;
• French Defence Minister;
• US Secrtary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

Subsequently, spokespeople for the US State Department said that the United States, the UK and France refused to believe that Kyiv could carry out a "dirty bomb" provocation. The foreign ministries of the three countries regarded the information from the Russian side as an attempt to use such an accusation as a pretext for escalation.

"The fact that they did not believe the information from the Russian side does not mean that the threat of such a "dirty bomb” ceases to exist. The threat is evident. The Minister of Defence brought this information to the attention of his counterparts. It's up to them to believe or not to believe," Peskov told reporters on October 24.

The use of a "dirty bomb" will inevitably lead to the contamination of a large area. The contaminated area will be unsuitable for living for decades to come, similarly to the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Noteworthy, almost every country of the world that has nuclear technology can build a dirty bomb. The range of destruction will depend on the type of explosives and weather conditions.