Kremlin ‘amplifying’ dirty bomb accusations to justify invasion

‘These narratives are long standing but are likely being amplified as part of a retrospective justification’

RUSSIA is “intensifying” accusations that Ukraine is developing nuclear and chemical weapons, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has warned.

Security experts predict that Moscow will claim, in order to justify its invasion, that Ukraine was working on a nuclear weapons programme or developing a “dirty bomb”.

In the latest intelligence update, the MOD said: “Since the end of February there has been a notable intensification of Russian accusations that Ukraine is developing nuclear or biological weapons.

“These narratives are long standing but are currently likely being amplified as part of a retrospective justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” Russian forces attacked the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhya in southern Ukraine last week, briefly causing fires to break out. The plant, one of four in Ukraine, supplies around 25 per cent of the country’s power.

Since the attack, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said Russian forces have switched off the internet and mobile phone networks. It is no longer possible to get “reliable information” about the plant, it said.

Dmitri Alperovitch, a security expert, said the Kremlin was “intent on proving that Ukrainians were working on a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb programme”. In a post on Twitter, he said a “show and tell” of the Ukrainian supposed weapons of mass destruction programme “may be coming soon”.

Western nations are increasingly nervous about the threat of nuclear strikes and Russia’s intentions for Chernobyl, site of the devastating 1986 nuclear accident, which is under Moscow’s control.

Yesterday, an American WC-135W “nuke-sniffer” aircraft took off from a US airbase in East Anglia and was tracked heading north over Scotland.

The US Air Force special-purpose aircraft known as Constant Phoenix, based on a Boeing C-135 Stratolifter, collects samples from the atmosphere for the purpose of detecting and identifying radioactivity associated with nuclear weapons.