NATO rejects Russian accusations about a dirty bomb

MADRID, 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday rejected Russian suspicions about the possible use of a dirty bomb by Ukraine, a thesis branded by the leader of the Alliance as "absurd" that has not received any type of international endorsement and which has also been denied by kyiv.

"The accusation that Ukraine is preparing to use dirty bombs in Ukraine is absurd," Stoltenberg said in an interview with Politico at the Atlantic Alliance headquarters in Brussels, in which he also said that kyiv is "fighting hard to liberate " his territory.

"What worries us is that this is part of a pattern that we have seen before in Russia, in Syria, but also at the beginning of the war, or just before the war started in February. And that is that Russia is accusing other (to) do what they intend to do themselves," he added.

In telephone conversations with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and British Defense Minister Ben Wallace, Stoltenberg has also referred to Russian suspicions about the alleged use of a dirty bomb in Ukraine.

"NATO allies reject this accusation. Russia should not use it as a pretext for escalation. We remain firm in our support for Ukraine," the secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance reiterated on his official Twitter profile.

The United States, the United Kingdom and France have publicly expressed their doubts, but the head of the Armed Forces radioactive weapons unit, Igor Kirilov, stressed on Monday that they have "proof" that "the kyiv regime is planning a provocation".

According to the Russian version, the Ukrainian forces plan to use a dirty bomb or any other device with a small nuclear charge. "The goal is to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction and to launch a major anti-Russian campaign," Kirilov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency.

The officer recalled that in February the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, announced his desire for Ukraine to return to being a nuclear power and, throughout the conflict, "has repeatedly asked NATO countries to launch attacks against Russia".