Moscow defence minister Sergei Shoigu first made the dirty bomb remarks in a call with British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (Jacob King/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Britain, the US and France have issued a rare joint statement rejecting Russia’s allegations that Ukraine is preparing to fire a dirty bomb within its own territory.
Moscow defence minister Sergei Shoigu first made the dirty bomb remarks in a call with UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace on Sunday.
Putin’s sidekick claimed he was “concerned about possible provocations by Kyiv involving the use” of such a weapon.
Mr Shoigu then repeated the same claims in calls with other defence ministers, including the US, France and Turkey.
But a joint statement from France, the UK and the US said their governments “all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory”.
The UK Ministry of Defence said Mr Wallace, in his call with Mr Shoigu, “refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation”.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s mention of a dirty bomb - where conventional explosives are laced with radioactive material - meant Putin could well be preparing such an illegal attack.
These “false flag” tactics have been used by Putin in the past and Mr Zelensky said: “If Russia calls and says Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing - Russia has already prepared all this.”
Mr Zelensky insisted Russia was threatening the world “with a radiation disaster” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which it captured, and also spoke of Kremlin threats to detonate a dam in southern Ukraine.
The Kyiv leader has repeatedly warned of Putin’s willingness to use nuclear weapons, though the Kremlin has denied the allegations.
Gen Col Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, insisted: “We are and should be worried. I do believe that such a threat really exists.”
