A flurry of phone calls from Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu warning of an imminent “dirty bomb” attack has sent alarm bells ringing in western capitals, where nervousness over Moscow’s threats to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine has been rising.
The threat, which was condemned by the US, UK and France as an attempt to lay the ground for a “false flag” attack blamed on Ukraine, has heightened fears that the eight month-long war will go nuclear, as analysts warn the key message was that whichever weapons are used, Ukraine should prepare for further escalation.
“Ukraine has neither the need nor the ability to use a dirty bomb. It is Russia that is losing. The worry is that Russia may use the claim that Ukraine is poised to use a dirty bomb as a pretext for its own preventive, escalatory attack,” said Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London think-tank.