"The United States, Britain and France rejected as “transparently false” claims by Moscow’s defense minister that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” — explosive weapons designed to widely disperse radioactive material — on its own territory with Western help, characterizing the claims as an attempt by Moscow to create a pretext for escalating the conflict.

“The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” the U.S., British, and French foreign ministers said in a joint statement of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s claim, made without providing evidence in a flurry of calls with top defense officials on Sunday, that Ukraine is planning to use so-called dirty bombs in the war. “We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia,” the Western diplomats added. Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in 1994 in return for a guarantee from Russia that it would not attack Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of manufacturing false threats in his nightly speech. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Zelensky said of Shoigu’s claims."

Rachel Pannett, Annabelle Timsit, and Praveena Somasundaram report for the Washington Post October 24, 2022. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"How Water Has Been Weaponized In Ukraine" (Reuters) [3]

"Russia’s ‘Dirty Bomb’ Warnings Slammed as ‘False Flag’" (Daily Beast) [4]