BRUSSELS, October 24. /TASS/. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that he discussed the information about a "dirty bomb" being prepared by Ukraine with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.

"Spoke with [Austin] and [Wallace] Russia’s false claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory. NATO Allies reject this allegation. Russia must not use it as a pretext for escalation. We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine," Stoltenberg tweeted Monday.

Earlier, Stoltenberg said in an interview for Politico that he does not believe that Ukraine can use a "dirty bomb" on its own territory.

On Monday, Russian Nuclear, Chemical and Biological (NCB) Protection Troops head Igor Kirillov said that the Kiev regime may disguise a "dirty bomb" detonation as a malfunction of a Russian low-yield nuclear weapon. He explained that, in case of a "dirty bomb" detonation, radioactive isotopes will be detected by the international monitoring system deployed in Europe, and Russia will be accused of using a tactical nuclear weapon afterward.

According to Kirillov, the dirty bomb may contain uranium oxide from depleted nuclear fuel elements, stockpiled in nuclear power plants’ depleted fuel storages. In addition, radioactive particles from the Chernobyl NPP depleted nuclear fuel storage could be used.

The military official explained that a "dirty bomb" is a container with radioactive isotopes and an explosive charge. During detonation, the container is being destroyed and nuclear material is being spread with by blast wave, contaminating vast areas and causing radiation poisoning.