Western Countries Says Russia Could Plot Ukraine 'Dirty Bomb' Pretext

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru/Ministry of Defense)

JAKARTA - Western powers accused Russia on Monday of plotting to use the threat of a bomb laced with nuclear material as a pretext for an escalation in Ukraine, as Moscow evacuated civilians from the southern city in anticipation of a major battle.

With Ukrainian troops advancing into Russian-occupied Kherson Province, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called his Western counterparts on Sunday to tell them that Moscow suspects Kyiv of planning to use the so-called "dirty bomb".

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of France, Britain, and the United States said they all rejected the accusations, reaffirming their support for Ukraine against Russia.

"Our country makes clear, we all reject Russia's false accusations that Ukraine is preparing to use dirty bombs on its own territory", they said.

"The world will see through all efforts to use these allegations as a pretext for escalation", the statement continued.

Earlier, in a speech late on Sunday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia's accusations were a sign that Moscow was planning such an attack and would blame Ukraine.

"If Russia calls and says Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has prepared all of this", Zelensky said.

"So when today the Russian Defense Minister called the foreign ministers with stories about the so-called 'dirty' nuclear bombs, everyone understood everything very well. Understands who is the source of every dirty thing imaginable in this war", he said.