DISINFO: Ukraine resorts to provocations to drag Europe into an armed conflict
SUMMARY
Dragging Europe into the armed conflict in Ukraine seems vital to Kyiv, which is resorting to various provocations to achieve that: it directed an anti-aircraft missile at Poland; it is still bombing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and working on a "dirty bomb". Now, a provocation with a chemical attack is apparently being prepared.
RESPONSE
This is a claim that includes multiple pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives.
There is no evidence that Ukraine is attempting to use nuclear materials in a war against Russia. Ukraine neither possesses any kinds of nuclear weapons, including dirty nuclear bombs, nor prepares one. In 1994, Ukraine signed a Budapest Memorandum abandoning its nuclear arsenal. Ukraine also joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Moreover, the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly denied the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP) and accused Russia of dangerous actions that may cause a nuclear catastrophe. In fact, many reports confirm that Russia uses the nuclear site as a so-called “sheltered” artillery park, "using the facilities to fire on Ukrainian positions in the belief that Ukraine would not fire back and risk a nuclear accident".
As for the claim made in connection with the recent missile accident in Poland, on 15 November 2020, an S-300 missile entered Polish airspace from the territory of Ukraine, killing two Polish civilians. According to the US and Polish officials, the missile was fired by the Ukrainian air defence troops, which tried to fight a large-scale Russian missile attack taking place on the same day.
According to the statement of Polish President Andrzej Duda, this situation is an “unfortunate accident” which is a result of a massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine. According to Nato, “Russia bears ultimate responsibility as it continues its illegal war against Ukraine”. At the same time, the Polish authorities and NATO representatives underline that this missile accident was not a deliberate attack on Poland and “there are no indications that Russia is preparing offensive military actions against NATO”.
See similar stories that Ukraine wants to draw NATO into the conflict through the provocation in Poland; Kyiv will detonate a “dirty bomb” to accuse Russia; Ukraine's attack on Zaporizhzhia plant is nuclear; NATO may use Zaporizhzhia incident as a pretext to join combat in Ukraine.