Ukraine has denounced Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's statements that Kyiv might be preparing to use a "dirty bomb." According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, this could mean that Russia itself could be preparing for an attack of this kind.
Shoigu made these allegations during telephone conversations with his French, British and Turkish counterparts on Sunday. A readout issued by the Defence Ministry of Russian Federation said Shoigu raised concerns about the "possible provocations by Kyiv involving the use of a dirty bomb," without providing any evidence to back up his claims.
However, after Shoigu's conversation with U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace, the latter issued a statement which said: "The Defense Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation."
A dirty bomb is a bomb that combines conventional explosives, such as dynamite, with radioactive materials.
However, Zelensky lashed out against the 'Dirty Bomb' allegations, stating that Russia was "the source of everything dirty that can be imagined in this war."
"And there’s only one actor who can use nuclear weapons in our part of Europe, and this is the one who ordered comrade Shoigu to call somewhere," Zelensky said, accusing Russia of bringing death and degradation whereever it goes.
Zelenskyy also said the world should react as harshly as possible. "If Russia has prepared another round of raising stakes and another step towards escalation, it must see now, preemptively and before [...] any new "dirt," that the world will not swallow that," he was quoted by Ukrainian media outlets.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has also charged Russia with intentionally slowing down food shipments made under the Black Sea Grain Initiative. According to Kyiv's Infrastructure Ministry, Russia is deliberately delaying the full implementation of the Grain Initiative.
"As previously reported, Russia is deliberately delaying the full implementation of the Grain Initiative," the Infrastructure Ministry wrote in a Facebook statement. "As a result, the ports have been operating at only 25-30% of their capacity in recent days."
Zelensky had made a similar charge earlier this week."The enemy is doing everything to slow down our food exports. I believe that by these actions, Russia is deliberately inflaming the food crisis to make it as acute as it was in the first months of this year. Today, more than 150 vessels are in line to fulfill contractual obligations to supply our agricultural products … It occurred only because Russia deliberately delays the passage of ships," he said.
