Russian authorities reported to the United Nations that Ukraine was preparing what they called a "dirty bomb" that was allegedly laced with radioactive material.

However, Western and Ukrainian officials dismissed the allegations and called them a pretext for escalating the war. Authorities from Moscow sent a letter that detailed the allegations to the UN on Monday and raised their concerns during a closed meeting with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Tuesday.

Russia's Allegations

In a statement, Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said that they were quite satisfied because they were able to raise awareness about the issue. The official noted that he did not mind people saying that Russia is crying wolf if the weapon is not used, arguing that it would be better if it was kept under wraps.

On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia's allegations and noted that the West was foolish to dismiss them. The situation follows hints from Moscow that it might be forced to use a tactical nuclear weapon against Ukraine, as per Aljazeera.

Previously, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the dirty bomb allegations showed that Russia was planning such an attack and seeking to put the blame on his country. Moscow officials, with the looming threat of Ukrainian forces advancing into Russian-occupied Kherson, called their Western counterparts to voice their concerns.

Russian authorities alleged that Kyiv ordered two organizations to manufacture a dirty bomb, which is an explosive device laced with radioactive material but did not provide any evidence to back up its claims.

According to the Associated Press, Moscow's allegations also come as Ukraine's nuclear energy operator said on Tuesday that Russian forces were performing mysterious work at Europe's largest nuclear power plant.

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Russia Dirty Bomb 

Ukraine also dismissed Russia's claim as an attempt to distract the world's attention from the Kremlin's own alleged plans to use a nuclear weapon themselves. Ukraine's state enterprise, Energoatom, alleged that Russian forces have carried out secret construction work over the last week at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Moscow officials in charge of the plant denied access to Ukrainian staff running the plant or monitors from the UN's atomic energy watchdog that would allow them to see what the Russians are doing, said the company on Tuesday.

The company said that it assumed that the Russians at the plant are preparing a terrorist act that makes use of nuclear materials and radioactive waste that were stored in the area. Energoatom added that there were 174 containers at the Zaporizhzhia power plant's dry spent fuel storage facility, with each one containing 24 assemblies of spent nuclear fuel.

A dirty bomb, compared to a nuclear bomb, is much cheaper and simpler to make because it can be manufactured without using highly refined radioactive material. It is able to be created using radioactive materials from hospitals, nuclear power stations, or research laboratories.

Due to radioactive fallout causing serious illnesses to humans, including cancer, such a bomb would cause panic among the target population. A wide area around the blast zone would need to be evacuated for decontamination, or people could be forced to abandon an area completely, BBC reported.

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