Ukraine war: Kherson 'evacuation' expanded, UK 'behind' Nord Stream sabotage, 'dirty bomb' probed
Experts from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog inspected two sites in Ukraine on Tuesday, following unfounded claims by Russia that Ukrainian authorities planned to let off a "dirty bomb".
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said inspections would look for evidence of a so-called dirty bomb, a radioactive explosive device.
Kyiv invited inspectors into the country, in response to Russia's unsubstantiated allegations.
Following a lightning advance by Ukrainian forces on the battlefield, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior figures in Russia alleged that Ukraine was manufacturing a dirty bomb, which can scatter radioactive material across a large area.
Western countries have called Moscow’s claims “transparently false", while Ukrainian officials say it is an attempt by Russia to justify escalating hostilities.
Russia has not provided any evidence for such claims.
Vassily Nebenzia, Russian ambassador to the UN, wrote in a letter to the Security Council last week that Ukraine’s nuclear research facility had “received direct orders from [President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy’s regime to develop such a dirty bomb.”
The IAEA previously said the sites being investigated are under "safeguards" and "visited regularly" by its inspectors, who are searching for hidden nuclear activities and materials that could be used in a dirty bomb.
“The IAEA inspected one of the two locations a month ago and no undeclared nuclear activities or materials were found there,” the agency said in a statement on Monday.
A Russian court on Tuesday fined Wikipedia two million rubles for two articles about the war in Ukraine, deeming them untrue.
Wikimedia Foundation, parent company of the online encyclopedia, will
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