DISINFO: Ukrainian authorities intend to create a "dirty" bomb

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: Ukrainian authorities intend to create a "dirty" bomb

SUMMARY

Тhe Ukrainian authorities intend to create a "dirty" atomic bomb.

The EU and the US are also guilty of sponsoring nuclear terrorism. By providing military and financial aid to Zelenskyy's regime, the US president and the heads of European countries are turning into sponsors and accomplices of nuclear terrorism.

RESPONSE

Conspiracy theory, accusing Ukraine of creating a dirty bomb and posing a nuclear threat to Russia.

There is no evidence that Ukraine is attempting to use nuclear materials in a war against Russia or preparing a dirty bomb.

Pro-Kremlin sources have previously accused Ukraine of constructing a (dirty) nuclear bomb. Before the full-scale invasion on 24 February, the Kremlin-owned RIA Novosti article stated that “Kyiv is literally one step away” from creating tactical nuclear weapon. It alleged that "Russophobic authorities" in Kyiv are acquiring a dirty bomb. It was one of the reasons for invasion.

In early March, the Kremlin-owned RT alleged that, based on the evidence from the then-occupied Chornobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine was close to building a plutonium-based "dirty bomb".

Another pro-Kremlin source claimed in May 2022 that Ukraine has stockpiled 40 tons of uranium and 30 tons of plutonium on Zaporizhzhia NPP to create a dirty nuclear bomb.

Western leaders reject Russia's 'dirty bomb' claim and warned that such allegations can be used as a pretext for greater escalation. Ukraine asked the IAEA to "immediately send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine, which the Russian Federation falsely describes as sites for the development of a 'dirty bomb'." IAEA inspectors found nothing suspicious in the Ukrainian facilities.

The Western states provide Ukraine with military assistance to repel the unprovoked Russian aggression. Ukraine receives weapons with the sole aim of restoring its territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.

Ukraine has been a nuclear-free country since 1994 when the Budapest memorandum was signed. In 1998, Ukraine signed an Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and in 2006 a Protocol Additional to the Agreement which provides for strict control not only over the nuclear material present on the territory of the country, but for any nuclear research.

From the first day of the war, Russia has been voicing its right to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine at all levels, from high-ranking officials to propagandists.

Talk about the use of tactical nuclear weapons intensified after illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories. Without providing evidence, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that top NATO officials had said that it’d be acceptable to carry out nuclear strikes on Russia. He threatened to use nuclear weapons adding that "This is not a bluff".

Read also related cases: The West helps Ukraine to make a dirty bomb; Ukraine and the West are preparing a nuclear provocation; Russia has never threatened anyone with nuclear weapons; Volodymyr Zelensky asks NATO to launch a nuclear war against Russia.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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