Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Russian Defense Ministry says it is preparing its troops to work under radioactive contamination after Moscow accused Ukraine of planning a “dirty bomb” explosion, which Kiev vehemently denies.
After weeks of escalating international tensions following President Vladimir Putin’s threats to maintain Russia’s “territorial integrity” with nuclear weapons, it was Moscow’s first concrete statement on a change in the readiness of its troops.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Western defense ministers on Sunday that Moscow believed Ukraine was preparing to detonate such a bomb, a device that uses conventional explosives filled with radioactive material to spread the contamination over a large area. .
The head of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, said the purpose of such an attack was to blame the radioactive contamination generated in Russia by accusing it of detonating a low-level nuclear weapon.
“The purpose of the provocation is to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction in the Ukrainian military theater and thereby launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign around the world, aimed at undermining trust in Moscow,” he said. ReutersTuesday (10/25/2022).
“The work was carried out by the Ministry of Defense to counter possible provocations by Ukraine. Troops and resources were prepared to carry out the task in conditions of radioactive contamination,” he added.
On the other hand, Ukraine’s Western allies have rejected any allegations that Kiev is building or planning to use dirty bombs, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the allegations were a sign that Moscow was planning such an attack and would blame Kiev.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected their claims.
“The groundless denials of our Western colleagues say that this is all fiction and that Russia itself is planning to do something similar and then blame the Zelensky regime. This is not a serious conversation,” he said.
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