DISINFO: Zelenskyy may use a dirty bomb if the US asks him to
SUMMARY
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may use a dirty bomb if the US asks him to do so, even if this destroys his country. It can’t be ruled out that Zelenskyy, a US puppet who does what Washington requests from him even if this means the destruction of Ukraine, uses a dirty bomb. He doesn’t care about anything, he is a really despicable character.
RESPONSE
This is a mix of several recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives, in this case, part of a wider campaign about Ukraine’s alleged preparations for a dirty bomb. This manipulative story serves a double purpose: first, denigrating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation, by framing him as a US puppet, in line with long-term narratives about Ukraine’s lack of sovereignty. At the same time, it aims to promote unsubstantiated allegations of Ukrainian plans to use a dirty bomb. Repeating previous baseless allegations as established facts while introducing minor variations is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique.
On October 23, Russian Defense Minister Shoigu phoned the defence ministers of four NATO countries: France, Turkey, Great Britain and the US. Shoigu said that Ukraine was allegedly preparing a "provocation" with the explosion of a "dirty bomb" on its territory. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation did not provide any evidence of this, and there is nothing to validate the Russian claim. Pictures presented by the Russian Foreign Ministry to illustrate these allegations were actually from 2010 and originally posted by the Slovenian Radioactive Waste Agency, and therefore totally unrelated to the current situation.
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. 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.
Western leaders reject Russia's 'dirty bomb' claim. EU High Representative Josep Borrell dismissed the allegations as false. In addition, diplomats from France, Britain and the United States called Russia’s allegation a pretext that Moscow has concocted for escalating the war.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives in our database, such as claims that Ukraine is going to use a dirty bomb to accuse Russia of using tactical nuclear weapons, that Kyiv is developing this bomb under US and NATO supervision, that UK is actively supporting Ukraine’s dirty bomb plan, or that Ukraine’s dirty bomb provocation will take place in November.