Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba commented on Russia's statements that Ukraine is preparing a provocation using a "dirty bomb". He wrote on Twitter that Ukraine is committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, does not have a "dirty bomb" and is not going to acquire one.
“The Russian lie that Ukraine allegedly plans to use a “dirty bomb” is as absurd as it is dangerous. First, Ukraine is committed to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons: we do not have a "dirty bomb" and we are not going to acquire one. Secondly, Russians often blame others for what they plan to do themselves,” Kuleba writes.
On October 23, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called the defense ministers of at least four countries: Britain, Turkey, France and the United States. As specified in the Telegram channel of the Russian department, during these conversations, Shoigu “brought to his colleagues concern about possible provocations by Ukraine using a “dirty bomb.”
A "dirty bomb" or radiological dispersal device (RDD) is an explosive device that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives. When the charge is detonated, the radioactive substance is sprayed by a shock wave over a large area.
The first message about the "dirty bomb" appeared on the website of the RIA Novosti agency on Sunday morning. It said, citing "trustworthy sources in different countries", that Kyiv was preparing a provocation on the territory of its country related to the detonation of a "dirty bomb", or a low-yield nuclear weapon could be detonated.
“The purpose of the provocation is to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction in the Ukrainian theater of operations and thereby launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign in the world aimed at undermining confidence in Moscow,” RIA Novosti reported.
Also, according to RIA, the leadership of the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant, located in the city of Zhovti Vody, Dnepropetrovsk region, as well as the Kyiv Institute for Nuclear Research, was tasked with making a “dirty bomb” and work on it is allegedly already at the final stage.