MOSCOW: Russia must not escalate the conflict in Ukraine with false claims that Kyiv is planning to unleash a so-called “dirty bomb”, the head of Nato has warned.

Jens Stoltenberg weighed in following Moscow’s repeated allegations that Ukraine could deploy such a weapon, sparking fears Russia could use one and blame Kyiv.

The head of the US-led military alliance said he had spoken with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace “about Russia’s false claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.”

“Nato Allies reject this allegation. Russia must not use it as a pretext for escalation. We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine,” he wrote on Twitter.

The Kremlin has alleged that Ukraine is in the “final stages” of developing a dirty bomb. But a senior military official said the United States has no indication Russia has decided to use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine.

“The Ukrainians are not building a dirty bomb, nor do we have indications that the Russians have made a decision to employ nuclear, chem, bio” weapons, the US official told journalists on condition of anonymity.

The head of the Russian army Valery Gerasimov repeated Moscow’s claims in a telephone call with his US counterpart earlier on Monday, the defence ministry said.

The call was the latest in a string of conversations between Russian defence officials and counterparts from Nato countries, during which Moscow said, without providing evidence, that Kyiv was planning to deploy the weapon.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Monday that it had prepared its forces to work in conditions of radioactive contamination, after Moscow accused Ukraine of planning to detonate a “dirty bomb” — something Kyiv has strongly denied.

After weeks of rising international tension following threats by President Vladimir Putin to defend Russia’s “territorial integrity” with nuclear weapons, it was the first concrete statement from Moscow of a change in its forces’ state of preparedness.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Western defence ministers on Sunday that Moscow believed Ukraine was preparing to detonate such a bomb — a device using conventional explosives packed with radioactive material to spread contamination over a wide area.

The head of Russia’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection troops, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, told a media briefing on Monday the aim of such an attack would be to blame the resulting radioactive contamination on Russia by accusing it of detonating a low-grade nuclear weapon.

Ukraine wanted to paint Russia as a “nuclear terrorist”, he said. “The aim of the provocation would be to accuse Russia of using a weapon of mass destruction in the Ukrainian military theatre and by that means to launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign in the world, aimed at undermining trust in Moscow.”

Kirillov concluded: “Work has been organised by the ministry of defence to counter possible provocations from the Ukrainian side: forces and resources have been put in readiness to perform tasks in conditions of radioactive contamination.”

The Russian defence ministry said military Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov had spoken to his US and British counterparts by phone on Monday to discuss the possibility that Ukraine could use a “dirty bomb”.

Since Russia’s allegations and thinly veiled threat of potential nuclear escalation, both Kyiv and its allies have fiercely rejected the claim.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the head of the United Nations nuclear agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, accepted his request to “urgently send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine, which Russia deceitfully claims to be developing a dirty bomb.” The United Kingdom, the United States and France issued a joint statement dismissing the claim earlier on Monday.

“Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” according to the statement.

With the help of Western-supplied heavy weapons, Ukraine has managed to claw back swathes of its territory from Russia in the east and south, while its power grid has been pummelled ahead of winter.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2022