DISINFO: The West helps Ukraine to use a dirty nuclear bomb to blame Russia
SUMMARY
The Russian Defence Ministry stated that Ukraine is developing a "dirty nuclear bomb". NATO will have to explain where Kyiv got this weapon from and why it is using it. It is necessary to understand that Kyiv cannot carry out such provocations on its own [...] However, Zelensky's illegitimate position is very convenient for the West, allowing them to wash their hands of responsibility by saying: "an illegitimate president is in power; he decided on his own, so what does it have to do with us?". It is now likely that a strike will be directed to Ukrainian territory in order to blame Russia for it.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about nuclear issues in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
There is no evidence to back up the claim that Ukraine is developing a "dirty nuclear bomb". Ukraine has always remained open to international experts in the field of nuclear energy and does not take any prohibited actions, as emphasised by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Foreign Ministry recalled that Ukraine has always been, and remains, a faithful member of the Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Experts from the International Nuclear Energy Agency (IAEA) regularly visit locations in Ukraine and have never found any signs of prohibited activities by Ukraine. For example, in August 2024, the IAEA Mission, as part of an agreement on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, checked the South Ukrainian NPP, and in June - the Khmelnytska NPP.
The IAEA also conducted an in-depth inspection with additional access at the hydrometallurgical plant and at the Smolynska uranium mine of the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant in the city of Zhovti Vody. All inspections conducted by international experts for the presence of illegal nuclear materials have been successfully passed by Ukraine.
It is also worth recalling a similar disinformation campaign by the Kremlin, which started in October 2022. In response to Russian disinformation, governments of the United States, France and the UK issued a joint statement. emphasising that all three countries reject any false Russian claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb.
To reaffirm Ukraine's commitment to international nuclear standards, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba officially invited the IAEA mission to inspect the country's nuclear facilities. IAEA experts did not find any undeclared materials or activities in Ukraine.
Moreover, President Zelenskyy is a legitimate leader of Ukraine. The decision to postpone this year's presidential election was made in accordance with current Ukrainian legislation. Article 19 of the 2015 Ukrainian law "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law" directly prohibits the holding of presidential and several other types of elections during wartime. This law was passed long before Zelenskyy was elected president in 2019.
See more disinformation cases that Ukraine continues to work on using a dirty nuclear bomb to blame Russia for it, that Ukraine uses American chemical weapons possibly from the era of Saddam Hussein, that the West helps Ukraine to make a dirty bomb, that Ukraine, led by the West, prepares a dirty bomb attack, that London is helping Kyiv turn the country into a nuclear wasteland, and that Washington and the Kyiv regime’s actions pose a threat of nuclear catastrophe.