UNITED NATIONS/KYIV, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Rebuffed by Western countries, Russia doubled down on its claim that Kyiv is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” in Ukraine and said it would bring the issue to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday.
Russia sent a letter on its claims about Kyiv to the United Nations late on Monday, and diplomats said Moscow planned to raise the issue with the Security Council at a closed meeting the following day.
“We will regard the use of the dirty bomb by the Kyiv regime as an act of nuclear terrorism,” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia wrote U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Security Council in the letter, seen by Reuters.
With Ukrainian forces advancing into Russian-occupied Kherson province, top Russian officials had phoned their Western counterparts on Sunday and Monday to air their suspicions.
The foreign ministers of France, Britain and the United States rejected Moscow’s allegations as “transparently false” and reiterated their support for Ukraine.
“The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” they said in a joint statement.
Later, the United States issued a warning to Moscow.
“We’ve been very clear with the Russians … about the severe consequences that would result from nuclear use,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “There would be consequences for Russia whether it uses a dirty bomb or a nuclear bomb.”
Russia’s defence ministry said the aim of a “dirty bomb” attack by Ukraine would be to blame Russia for the resulting radioactive contamination. The ministry has begun preparing for such a scenario, it said, readying forces and resources “to perform tasks in conditions of radioactive contamination.”
