Why does Russia claim that Ukraine could deploy a dirty bomb
Russia asserts that Ukraine intends to use a "dirty bomb," which is an explosive weapon that also contains radioactive material
Together with France, the UK, and the US, Ukraine has denied the accusations made by Russia
How has Russia responded
In a phone conversation with the UK's defense secretary, Ben Wallace, the Russian defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, expressed his alarm over "potential provocations by Kiev involving the use of a dirty bomb
Similar remarks were also made to his adversaries in the US, France, and Turkey
Russia has also voiced its concerns before the UN Security Council, claiming that using a dirty bomb would constitute nuclear terrorism
Without providing any proof, Sergei Shoigu, the Russian minister of defense, has stoked worries that Ukraine intends to use a dirty bomb
The foreign ministers of France, the UK, and the US disputed its claims, claiming that Russia had made transparently false allegations
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, claimed that Russia was "the source of everything nasty that can be imagined in this war
Describe a dirty bomb
It is a bomb that releases radioactive material into the atmosphere when its conventional explosive detonates, such as uranium
It doesn't have to include highly specialized radioactive material like a nuclear bomb does. Instead, it might make use of radioactive substances from medical facilities, nuclear power plants, or research facilities
They can therefore be produced more quickly and at a lower cost than nuclear weapons. They can also be transported, for instance, in the trunk of a car
Such a weapon would elicit fear among the intended population because radioactive fallout might result in life-threatening conditions like cancer
Additionally, a huge region surrounding the blast zone would need to be either abandoned entirely or evacuated for decontamination
According to calculations by the Federation of American Scientists, if a bomb containing 9g (0.3oz) of cobalt-60 and 5kg of TNT were to detonate near the tip of Manhattan in New York, the entire region of the city would be rendered inhabitable for decades
Because of this, dirty bombs are sometimes referred to as weapons of mass disruption
They are, however, incredibly unreliable as weapons
It is necessary to reduce the radioactive material in a dirty bomb to powder in order for it to disperse across the target zone. However, if the particles are too small or discharged in a windy environment, they will disperse too widely and cause little harm
"Why did Russia claim to have a "dirty bomb
The Russian defense minister "likely intended to limit or cancel Western military aid to Ukraine and possibly destabilize the Nato alliance through scare-mongering calls," according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
There have also been rumors that Russia intends to detonate a dirty bomb within Ukraine and then blame the incident on Ukrainian security forces in a "false flag" strike.
Given the harm a dirty bomb may inflict to its own forces and the territory it controls, many military analysts assert that Russia would not be that foolish
"The Kremlin is unlikely to be plotting an imminent false-flag dirty bomb assault," the ISW itself has stated
Has a dirty bomb ever been used
Nowhere in the world has a dirty-bomb attack yet been successful
However, attempts have been made
In 1996, Chechen separatists detonated a bomb in Moscow's Izmailovo Park that contained dynamite and cesium-137
Equipment used in the treatment of cancer had produced the caesium
It was located by security services, who then defused it
In 1998, a dirty bomb that had been planted in Chechnya near a railway line was discovered and defused by the country's intelligence service
US resident Jose Padilla, who had ties to al-Qaeda, was detained in Chicago in 2002 on suspicion of organizing a dirty bomb attack. He received a sentence of 21 years in prison
Dhiren Barot, an Al-Qaeda member, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for planning to construct a dirty bomb
Dhiren Barot, a British national and member of al-Qaeda, was apprehended in London two years later and sentenced to 30 years in prison for planning terrorist strikes in the US and the UK that involved the deployment of a dirty bomb
But before they were detained, neither Padilla nor Barot had started building their bombs