"The West Should Not Measure the Width of the 'Red Line'" Maria Zakharova, Following the Defense Ministry, Talks About a 'Dirty Bomb'

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, demanded that the Ukrainian authorities and their “Western sponsors” abandon their preparation of a “provocation” using a “dirty bomb.”

Zakharova's comment, published on the Foreign Ministry's website, largely repeats today's statement by the Russian Defense Ministry that Ukraine plans to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction, disguising the bomb's detonation as "an abnormal activation of a low-yield Russian nuclear weapon, which uses highly enriched uranium as a charge."

A representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs named specific enterprises that are allegedly involved in creating a “dirty bomb” in Ukraine.

According to our information, the Ukrainian side has already begun implementing the planned project. In particular, the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant in Zhovti Vody and the Institute of Nuclear Research in Kyiv have been tasked with producing such a bomb. We do not rule out assistance in solving this problem from some Western countries, which, according to incoming information, are negotiating with Ukraine on the supply of components for the "dirty bomb".

We demand that the Kyiv authorities and the Western sponsors who control them stop taking actions that are leading the world to a nuclear catastrophe and threatening the lives of innocent civilians. It is reckless to ignore Russian warnings on this matter. It is dangerous to escalate the situation. The West should not measure the width of the "red line".

During a war, it is impossible to quickly verify information that is disseminated even by official representatives of the parties to the conflict.

• On October 23, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu contacted his colleagues from four NATO countries and said that Ukraine was planning a "provocation" using a "dirty bomb." Ukraine called the reports of a "dirty bomb" a lie. The country's President Volodymyr Zelensky said that only Russia could use such a bomb in Ukraine.
• Western countries believe that Russia's warnings about a "dirty bomb" are a pretext for a new escalation. "Our countries have made it clear that we all reject Russia's patently false claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a "dirty bomb" on its territory," the foreign ministers of France, Great Britain and the United States said in a joint statement.