DISINFO: Ukraine tirelessly working to produce either a “dirty bomb” or an actual nuclear weapon

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about nuclear issues in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

There is no evidence to back up the claim. Russia accuses Ukraine of preparing false flag operations without presenting any proof. Moscow uses pre-emptive claims about dirty bombs, nuclear provocations, bioweapons, toxic substances and staged atrocities as a means to deny or conceal its actual atrocities.

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. 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, former 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.

Оn the contrary, Western countries have real concerns’ Russia could use nuclear weapons. It is Russia who is making irresponsible hints and statements about the possibility of using nuclear arms in its war against Ukraine.

For several years now the Russian infosphere has seen nuclear threats being made against the west by figures like Dmitry Kiselyov or late Vladimir Zhirinovsky are famous for this. Other Russian officials to make such statements are Dmitry Medvedev, Ramzan Kadyrov, Margarita Simonyan or even Vladimir Putin who specified that “it was not a bluff”.

Ukraine has been a nuclear-free country since 1994 when the Budapest memorandum was signed.

See more disinformation cases claiming that Nuclear blackmail from the Ukrainian regime: Kyiv may create a dirty bomb, that Zelenskyy will use a dirty bomb or terrorist attacks if victory plan fails, that The US and Ukraine have created a dirty bomb, that Ukraine may use a dirty bomb, that Ukraine seeks to carry out nuclear terror against the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, that Ukraine is preparing a provocation with a dirty nuclear bomb, or that Kyiv is preparing a "dirty bomb" near Zaporizhzhia and Kursk nuclear power plants.