Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in phone conversations with Western defense chiefs on Sunday claimed that Ukraine is preparing to use a radioactive “dirty bomb” on its own territory.

“So when today the Russian Minister of Defense organizes a phone carousel and calls foreign ministers with stories about the so-called "dirty" nuclear bomb, everyone understands everything well. Understands who is the source of everything dirty that can be imagined in this war,” Zelensky said in his daily video address.

“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this. I believe that now the world should react in the toughest possible way. If Russia has prepared another round of raising stakes and another escalating step, it must see now, preemptively and before its any new "dirt" that the world will not swallow that,” Zelensky added.

A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a speculative radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives.

The purpose of the weapon is to contaminate the area around the dispersal agent/conventional explosion with radioactive material, serving primarily as an area denial device against civilians.

It is, however, not to be confused with a nuclear explosion, such as a fission bomb, which by releasing nuclear energy produces blast effects far in excess of what is achievable by the use of conventional explosives. (ILKHA)