[ad_1]
Ukraine’s allies have accused Russia of plotting to use a threat of a bomb laced with nuclear material as a pretext for escalation in Ukraine as civilians fled a Russian-controlled southern city in anticipation of a major battle.
With Ukrainian forces advancing into Russian-occupied Kherson province, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu phoned several of his foreign counterparts on Sunday to tell them officials suspected Ukraine planned to use a so-called “dirty bomb”.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of France, the United Kingdom and the United States said they had all rejected the allegations and reaffirmed their support for Ukraine against Russia.
“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,” they said.
“The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”
UK Chief of Defence Staff Tony Radakin rejected Russia’s allegations in a call on Monday with Russian military Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov, the defence ministry said in a statement.
It also said both sides agreed on the importance of maintaining open channels of communication.
Russia’s RIA news agency reported Gerasimov also spoke to the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley.
Russia’s defence ministry said the aim of a “dirty bomb” attack by Ukraine would to blame the resulting radioactive contamination on Russia by accusing it of detonating a low-grade nuclear weapon.
“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,” it said.
In an overnight address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said the Russian accusation was a sign it was planning such an attack itself and would blame Ukraine.
“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Zelenskiy said.
“So when today the Russian Minister of Defence organises a phone carousel and calls foreign ministers with stories about the so-called ‘dirty’ nuclear bomb, everyone understands everything well. Understands who is the source of everything dirty that can be imagined in this war.”
Asked about foreign scepticism about Russia’s accusations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a briefing on Monday: “Their disbelief doesn’t mean there’s no threat… The threat is evident.”
Russia has ordered civilians to leave territory it controls on the western bank of the Dnipro River, where Ukrainian forces have been advancing since the start of this month shortly after Russia claimed to have annexed the area.
A Russian defeat there would be one of its biggest setbacks of the war.
Kherson’s regional capital is the only big city Russia has captured intact since its invasion in February, and its only foothold on the west bank of the Dnipro, which bisects Ukraine.
The province controls the gateway to Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized and claimed to annex in 2014.
The Russian-installed authorities in Kherson announced on Monday that men who stay behind would have the option of joining a military self-defence unit.
Ukraine accuses Russia of press-ganging men in occupied areas into military formations, a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military spy chief, said Russian forces were preparing to defend Kherson city, not retreat from it, and reported evacuations were part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
While Russia is moving financial structures, equipment, vulnerable residents and wounded people from Kherson, he said, it is also reinforcing defences.
“They are creating the illusion that all is lost. Yet at the same time they are moving new military units in and preparing to defend the streets of Kherson,” he told the Ukrainska Pravda online media outlet.
[ad_2]
Source link