Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegation a couple of doable soiled bomb assault in a spherical of phone conversations with Western protection chiefs earlier Sunday.
“Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” the US State Department mentioned in a joint assertion with the British and French governments.
“The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” the assertion went on. “We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia.”
A so-called soiled bomb is designed to infect a large space with radioactive materials, making it harmful for civilians. It doesn’t contain a nuclear explosion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sharply denounced Moscow’s claims, calling the allegation a Russian ploy for simply such an assault in Moscow’s eight-month-old conflict towards its pro-Western neighbor. “The world should react as harshly as possible,” he mentioned.
“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Zelensky mentioned in a video deal with on social media.
“Even the very Russian threat of nuclear weapons — and even more so against our country, which has given up its nuclear arsenal… is a reason for both sanctions and for even greater strengthening of support for Ukraine,” mentioned Zelensky.
Shoigu carried out a spherical of phone consultations with counterparts from Britain, France and Turkey, all NATO members, after first talking Friday with Austin.
In these calls, Shoigu conveyed “concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a ‘dirty bomb,'” the Russian Defense Ministry mentioned.
Shoigu and Austin spoke Sunday, in what the Pentagon mentioned was a follow-up name requested by Russia to their name Friday.
“Secretary Austin rejected any pretext for Russian escalation and reaffirmed the value of continued communication amid Russia’s unlawful and unjustified war against Ukraine,” mentioned a press release afterward from Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder.
When Shoigu and Austin spoke on Friday, it was solely their second name since Moscow despatched troops to Ukraine on February 24.