On August 15, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed concern about another surge in Russian propaganda regarding Ukraine's alleged plans to use "dirty bombs" or attack nuclear power plants.
A message appeared on the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that these statements are false. "We officially deny these false reports. Ukraine has neither the intention nor the ability to carry out such actions. Russia should stop spreading dangerous lies," the ministry emphasized.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Ukrainian Center for Combating Disinformation, also expressed his opinion on the situation. He suggested that Russia might be preparing a nuclear provocation. "They failed to accuse us of terrorism and the attack on the Kursk NPP, so they are now inventing a 'dirty bomb' and our possible provocation. This shows that Russia can prepare a terrorist attack," Kovalenko wrote.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasized that the country remains a member of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). "We do not have any 'dirty bombs' and do not plan to buy them. When Russia first spread these false allegations in 2022, we invited an IAEA mission that completely refuted these lies. Since then, nothing has changed," said the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Heorhiy Tykhiy.
Russian propaganda media previously stated that Ukraine was allegedly preparing a "dirty nuclear bomb" attack on the Zaporizhzhia and Kursk nuclear power plants. They also claimed that this strike was "supervised by Western special services" and that "numerous Western journalists allegedly arrived in Sumy and Zaporizhzhia" in connection with the preparation of the attack. The propagandists added that "dirty warheads" have already been placed in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
It is noted that these statements are part of Russia's information campaign aimed at disinformation and creating an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. The Ukrainian side called on the international community to be attentive to such fake news and to continue to maintain transparency and objectivity in the coverage of events.
