In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, wrote on Monday that Moscow will regard the use of a “dirty bomb” by Kyiv as an act of nuclear terrorism. In an attempt to rally other countries against Ukraine in the conflict that began in late February, Moscow will allegedly raise the issue on Tuesday during a private UN meeting though the UNSC will also convene on Tuesday.
Nebenzia urged Guterres to do as much as possible to prevent such a heinous crime from happening, reiterating concerns voiced by Russian defense officials while calling for a UN Security Council meeting on the matter.
Previously on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry warned that Ukrainian forces could be planning an attack using a bomb laced with nuclear material in a bid to portray Moscow as a nuclear terrorist, intimidate the local population and trigger a refugee exodus to the EU. In a series of rare phone conversations, the chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, further relayed these warnings to his counterparts in the US and UK though Moscow has been warning Western nations about Kiev’s alleged plans to frame Russia for quite some time by using dirty bomb.
The West, however, is remaining dismissive of such warnings with the foreign ministers of France, the UK, and the US rejecting in a joint statement on Sunday what they called ‘Russia’s transparently false allegations’ that Kyiv would use a dirty bomb on its own territory. Ukraine itself also denied Moscow’s allegations, and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky disputed the Russian narrative claiming that it is Moscow that will stage an attack and blame it on Ukraine.
Meanwhile, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric addressed the disagreement, stressing that all parties should avoid any actions that might lead to miscalculation and escalate the already devastating conflict.