Russia's Defense Chief Ridiculed On Claim Ukraine Would Use Nukes

Russia’s defense chief alleged that Ukraine was preparing a “provocation” involving a nuclear device, a claim that was shot down by US, British, and Ukrainian officials and laughed at worldwide, Andrew Meldrum reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Shoigu, a non-military man who wears a uniform, said he was concerned about “possible Ukrainian provocations involving a ‘dirty bomb,’” a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegations in phone calls with his counterparts from the US, Britain, France, and Turkey. Shoigu, a non-military man who wears a uniform, said he was concerned about “possible Ukrainian provocations involving a ‘dirty bomb,’” a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste.

It doesn’t have the devastating effect of a nuclear explosion, but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination. All of Ukraine nuclear weapons were transferred to Russia when it declared independence, thinking the transfer would stop Moscow from invading Kyiv.

Russian authorities repeatedly have made allegations that Ukraine could detonate a dirty bomb in a false flag attack and blame it on Moscow. Ukrainian authorities, in turn, have accused the Kremlin of hatching such a plan.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace strongly rejected Shoigu’s claim and warned Moscow against using it as a pretext for escalation.

UK officials noted that Shoigu, in a call with Wallace, “alleged that Ukraine was planning actions facilitated by Western countries, including the UK, to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.”

The US also rejected Shoigu’s “transparently false allegations,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”

In a televised address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that Moscow itself was setting the stage for deploying a radioactive device on Ukrainian soil. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means only one thing: that Russia has already prepared all of it,” Zelenskyy said.

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