MOSCOW
Russia on Friday accused Ukraine of engaging in nuclear blackmail and violating international radiation safety standards.
Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Andrey Rtishchev, head of Russia's Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense troops unit, said Ukraine's actions in this regard are posing a serious environmental and security threat.
According to him, Andriy Yermak, former head of the Ukrainian presidential office, had personally overseen the covert import of spent nuclear fuel via Poland and Romania without notifying the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
This activity raises the risk of a "dirty bomb," a nuclear device using conventional explosives and nuclear elements, being produced and deployed under a false flag, he said.
Rtishchev pointed out that the claim is supported by reports that Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) training includes scenarios involving the theft of radiation sources and the construction and detonation of a radiological device in crowded areas.
"A Ukrainian government report also acknowledges the loss of 68 sources of ionizing radiation in the Kharkiv region, which it classifies as a radiation accident," he said.
Contrary to Ukrainian emergency forecasts, which suggest a radiation incident on the border would only affect Russia, Rtishchev warned contamination would likely spread across Ukraine and Europe, similar to the Chernobyl disaster, based on wind patterns.
"Further concern is raised about the deteriorating Dnipro Chemical Plant, a former uranium processing facility. The decaying structures allow precipitation to wash radioactive waste into basements, increasing the risk of contaminating the Dnipro River and, eventually, the Black Sea," he said.
Rtishchev emphasized that Russia conducted no strikes on the site.
The official also said that Western military and financial aid enables Kyiv’s violations of nuclear material handling standards, while ignoring how Ukraine's degraded governance "could trigger a regional environmental disaster."
He said the Russian Defense Ministry recorded over 600 documented violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention by Ukraine, including the use of riot control agents and chemicals such as chloropicrin and prussic acid.