One of Russia’s most frequently used, (and dastardly), tactics has been to conduct “false flag” attacks as a justification for military escalation. And, worse still, they don’t really seem to care who knows that they’re doing it.
Now, as Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine continues to fail miserably, Russian officials are making preemptive claims about what they think the next phase of the war will entail…and it has US officials calling shenanigans.
Russia’s defense chief alleged Sunday that Ukraine was preparing a “provocation” involving a radioactive device, a stark claim that was strongly rejected by U.S., British and Ukrainian officials amid soaring tensions as Moscow struggles to stem Ukrainian advances in the south.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegations in phone calls with his counterparts from the United States, Britain, France and Turkey.
Russia’s defense ministry said Shoigu voiced concern about “possible Ukrainian provocations involving a ‘dirty bomb,’” a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste. It doesn’t have the devastating effect of a nuclear explosion, but could expose broad areas to radioactive contamination.
The rest of the civilized world wasn’t buying it.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace strongly rejected Shoigu’s claim and warned Moscow against using it as a pretext for escalation.
The British Ministry of Defense noted that Shoigu, in a call with Wallace, “alleged that Ukraine was planning actions facilitated by Western countries, including the UK, to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.”
“The Defense Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation,” the ministry said.
The U.S. also rejected Shoigu’s “transparently false allegations,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took things a step further, suggesting outright that Russia’s discussion of such an attack could only mean that they themselves were considering the use of a dirty bomb, possibly in an effort to justify their own use of nuclear weapons.
