MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. A possibility of Ukraine manufacturing the so-called dirty nuclear bomb was one of the reasons for Russia to launch a special military operation in this country, said Konstantin Gavrilov, who heads the Russian delegation at the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, during a live broadcast of the Solovyov Live YouTube channel on Thursday.

"One of the motives for Russia to launch a special operation was a threat of emergence of a ‘dirty’ nuclear bomb. Not only ‘dirty’ because, as our authorities claim, they [Ukraine] had and still have technologies and it was only a matter of time," he said.

He stressed that Russia will continue telling the truth about the developments and will carry on with a reasoned dialogue with its Western partners.

"The proof needs to be presented and we are showing [image] slides that we circulate and come up with statements, which are circulated as well," Gavrilov continued. "This is some sort of a circulation of documents at the official level, which one cannot argue with or prove otherwise. It infuriates them because they can prove nothing."

Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 launched a special military operation in Ukraine following a request for assistance from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He said Moscow had no plans for an occupation of Ukrainian territories. The sole purpose is the country’s demilitarization and denazification.

The Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.