An Sunday, Russia made new allegations against Ukraine. Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu claimed in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu that Kyiv was planning to detonate a “dirty bomb”, i.e. a conventional explosive device laced with radioactive substances. The crime should then be blamed on Russia.
According to Moscow, Shoygu said something similar to the ministers of Great Britain and Turkey. Shojgu also spoke to his American counterpart Lloyd Austin. However, no information was given about the content of the conversation.
Zelenskyj calls on the world community to act
Russian media named two institutes in Ukraine that are already “well advanced” in the manufacture of this weapon. Lecornu confirmed that Shoygu had warned him about the possible use of such a weapon by Ukraine. Lecornu said: “France rejects any form of escalation, especially of a nuclear nature.” He will speak to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov about the issue.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the allegations in his evening video address and called on the world community to resist any further escalation of the war. If Moscow accuses Ukraine of wanting to throw a so-called dirty bomb, it is preparing something dirty itself, said Zelenskyy. He spoke of a “phone carousel” between the Russian defense minister and ministers from the NATO countries France, Great Britain, Turkey and the United States.
“If anyone can use nuclear weapons in our part of Europe, there is only one – and this one ordered Comrade Shoygu to call there,” said Zelenskyy, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The world must make it clear that it is not ready to swallow this “dirt”.
The prime minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, had previously warned that the humanitarian situation in his country would deteriorate dramatically as a result of the targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure by the Russian army. Russia wants to “plunge Ukraine into a humanitarian catastrophe” and achieve two goals: the country’s surrender and “a new refugee crisis in the EU,” Schmyhal told FAS
The Russians wanted to “literally freeze” many Ukrainians. “This could lead to a deliberately engineered humanitarian catastrophe the likes of which Europe has not seen since World War II,” said the head of government. Kiev’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba pointed out that the destruction of a people’s livelihood meets the definition of genocide. Poland’s border guards have reported an increase in entries from Ukraine since Thursday.
