MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. Russia has put the spotlight on the risk of Ukraine pulling off a false flag operation using a "dirty bomb" in the near future. Moscow is concerned that a container with radioactive substances will be blown up, contaminating a large area and causing radiation sickness.

TASS has gathered the most important information about Kiev’s planned provocation.

Essence of the threat

- Kiev plans to blame Moscow for using tactical nuclear weapons, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

- According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Kiev-based Institute for Nuclear Research and the Vostochny mining and processing combined works in the town of Zheltiye Vody are involved in the scheme.

- Ukraine intends to detonate a low-yield nuclear weapon, that is, a container with a charge and the isotopes of a substance such as uranium oxide. The substance can be found in spent nuclear fuel at nuclear power plants.

- The blast wave can destroy the container and spread radioactive particles over an area of up to several thousand square meters. European monitoring facilities are expected to record radioisotopes in the air.

- The incident will be blamed on a malfunction of a Russian munition containing highly enriched uranium.

- Russia believes that the risk of Kiev using a "dirty bomb" is real despite the fact that Western countries are unwilling to believe it, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

- It is a serious and justified suspicion, which has been verified through several channels, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pointed out.

Talks with West

- On October 23, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu informed US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, British Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar about Kiev’s plot to carry out a false flag. Shoigu and Austin talked twice on the phone in the past week.

- Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov also held talks with his counterparts from the United States and the United Kingdom.

- The UK said it wanted to reduce tensions in Ukraine and warned against using reports of false flag operations as an excuse to expand military activities.

- Washington dismissed Russia’s warnings. The Pentagon also said that Kiev was not working on a "dirty bomb", while the US had no plans to change the state of its nuclear forces. The White House, however, voiced concern about Russia’s statements.

- The US, British and French defense chiefs later held trilateral talks and issued a joint statement, clarifying that they "all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory."

- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held conversations with officials from Washington and London. He said that the military bloc rejected the accusations against Kiev and did not believe such a threat exists.

- Lavrov also pointed out that public statements by Western countries did not mean that the Russian side treated the information lightly.

Actions taken

- Russia plans to raise the issue of Ukraine’s plans to stage a provocation within international organizations, including the UN. Russia’s Foreign Ministry is ready to provide clarifications on the matter to all interested parties.

- Moscow sent a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, urging him to prevent the dirty bomb false flag. The world body has not yet confirmed the receipt of the letter.

- The UN Security Council is expected to discuss the issue in the near future. According to a TASS source, the council is set to meet on October 25.

- The UN chief’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric warned against raising tensions over reports of a "dirty bomb."

- Ukraine suggested that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts visit its nuclear facilities; the initiative was supported by the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell.

- An IAEA mission will visit two nuclear facilities in Ukraine, which will be decided by Kiev. The agency announced that it had visited those sites - one of them only a month earlier - and had not recorded any undeclared activities.