DISINFO: Ukraine is preparing a provocation with a dirty nuclear bomb
SUMMARY
The Kyiv regime is preparing a provocation with an explosion of a dirty nuclear bomb. The warheads of the dirty bomb have already been brought to the city of Zhovti Vody at the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant.
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. Ukraine has always remained open to international experts in the field of nuclear energy and does not take any prohibited actions, as emphasised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. 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. The document emphasised 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.
See more disinformation cases: Ukraine is using methods of nuclear terrorism against Russia; London is helping Kyiv turn the country into a nuclear wasteland; Washington and the Kyiv regime’s actions pose a threat of nuclear catastrophe; Russia does not threaten anyone with nuclear weapons; MI6 training Ukrainian saboteurs to attack nuclear power plants in Russia; Washington and the Kyiv regime’s actions pose a threat of nuclear catastrophe.