Russian Defense Minister calls NATO counterparts to raise concerns about “Dirty Bomb”

Europe, News, US October 25, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held a phone call with his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin on October 23, 2022. This is the second time in three days that the two defense leaders have spoken.

U.S. Secretary Austin and Russian Defense Minister Shoigu also held separate phone calls with at least three other NATO defense ministers.

The U.S. Department of Defense released a short readout regarding the call between Shoigu and Austin. The readout states that Shoigu requested the call. The two spoke about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

According to the Pentagon readout, “Secretary Austin rejected any pretext for Russian escalation and reaffirmed the value of continued communication amid Russia’s unlawful and unjustified war against Ukraine.” Moscow has so far released no official statement about the call.

Earlier, the two defense chiefs held a telephone conversation on October 21, 2022. According to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Defense, “Secretary Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine.”

Russian Defense Minister has also been actively contacting other NATO defense ministers. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Shoigu spoke with French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu over a phone call where the two “discussed the situation in Ukraine which is rapidly deteriorating”. He separately held calls with Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Britain’s Secretary of State of Defense Ben Wallace.

*^{A Russian Army military armored vehicle drives along a street in Kherson, Ukraine. (Image Credit: TASS)}*

The “Dirty Bomb”

Moscow has been raising concerns that Ukraine is planning to detonate a device laced with radioactive material. Russian defense ministry refers to it as a “Dirty Bomb”.

Moscow claims that Ukraine is preparing to use this bomb on its own territory and then blame Russia. The concerns were also raised during the phone calls, however, no substantial proof has been put forward by Russia to support its claims.

The White House Security Council rejected the allegations and flagged them as “transparently false”. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson similarly pushed back against Moscow’s claims during a press by stating that “We reject reports of Minister Shoigu’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.” He further added that “the world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”

^{Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, second left, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy Nikolai Yevmenov, second right, Commander of the troops of the Southern Military District Alexander Dvornikov. (Image Credit: Kremlin/Alexei Druzhinin/via AP)}

Russia’s recent allegations have activated all channels of communication between the NATO allies and Ukraine. According to Spokesperson of the U.S. State Department Ned Price, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on the matter and assured his Ukrainian counterpart of U.S.’s undeterred support for Ukraine against Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken also spoke with his French and British counterparts and released a joint statement that read that “the defense ministers of each of our countries spoke to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at his request. Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.”