"Possible military provocations" through the use of a "dirty bomb" .
While it continues to bomb the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, still forced into long blackouts in several regions, Russia is once again triggering the diplomatic confrontation, accusing Kiev of showing "a constant trend towards further uncontrolled escalation".
The defense minister Serghei Shoigu , who in a few hours repeated the accusations in telephone calls with his counterparts in the United States, France, United Kingdom and Turkey, voices the "concern" in Moscow. These claims were flatly rejected by the Western front, while Kiev branded them as "absurd" and "dangerous". Shoigu's words were returned to the sender by British Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace and French colleague Sebastien Lecornu.
"Such allegations must not serve as a pretext for further escalation ," London cautioned. The Ukrainian authorities themselves then railed against Moscow's rhetoric. "What have we already heard from Russia? A lie about Nazism, the development of nuclear weapons and fighting pigeons. What are we listening to now?" Dirty bomb "," blowing up the dam. "This is also a lie. It does not exist. a "dirty bomb". Only dirty attempts to justify the genocide with a new falsehood, "warned Mykahilo Podolyak, right-hand man of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
On the ground, meanwhile, Ukraine continues to deal with heavy interruptions to energy supplies , after the continuous enemy bombing of its critical civil infrastructures, which according to the authorities also caused the loss of 90% of wind energy and 50 % of the solar one. Planned blackouts have occurred in several regions, including the capital Kiev, while authorities insist on calling on the population to save on consumption. Tensions also continue around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, crucial for Kiev's electricity grid.
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14.45 - Zelensky: "Only Russia can use nuclear weapons in Europe"
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said only Russia could use nuclear weapons in Europe, following accusations by the Russian defense minister that Ukraine is preparing to use a "dirty bomb" on its territory. Zelensky stressed that Russia is using "nuclear blackmail" at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, "phosphorus munitions" and "banned anti-personnel mines against civilian infrastructure". And he said Russia was preparing to use the very weapon it accuses Ukraine of possessing.
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13.20 - Moscow: "Kiev's dirty bomb with materials from Chernobyl"
"The Kiev regime plans to detonate a low-powered nuclear weapon to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction," said the Federation General Staff. He adds: "They could use radioactive substances from spent nuclear fuel from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant to build the dirty bomb. The detonation will lead to radioactive contamination of an area of up to several thousand square meters." Tass reports it.
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11 am - Kiev: "The losses of Russian soldiers are close to 68,000"
Almost 68,000 Russian soldiers have been killed by Ukrainian forces since the beginning of the invasion of the country by Moscow: this was announced by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as reported by Ukrinform. From February 24 to yesterday, 67,940 Russian soldiers died, including 470 yesterday, the General Staff said. In its update on Moscow's losses so far, the military indicates that 270 fighters, 245 helicopters and 1,370 drones have also been shot down. In addition, the Kiev forces claim to have destroyed 2,590 Russian tanks, 1,673 artillery systems, as well as 16 ships and 350 cruise missiles.
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10.30 am - Twitter obscures Russia Today's account after legal appeal
The Twitter account of Rt (new name of TV Russia Today) was blocked following a legal appeal.
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9.15 am - NYT: "Israel gives Kiev intelligence against Iranian drones"
Israel has provided the Kiev government with "intelligence information useful for targeting Iranian drones" used by Russian forces in Ukraine: a Ukrainian official who wished to remain anonymous, said the New York Times. For his part, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Yuriy Sak said Iranian kamikaze drones "were developed as a mass capability to target Israel", not Ukraine. The Iranians "are using Ukraine as a testing ground, to see the weaknesses, to refine them and sooner or later they will use them against Israel," he added.
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9 am - Paris-London-USA: "Moscow does not deceive us with the dirty bomb"
"Nobody would be fooled" if Moscow escalates the conflict in Ukraine using the pretext of Kiev's use of a "dirty bomb" mentioned by the Russian government: this was declared today in a joint note by Paris, London and Washington. The French, British and American foreign ministers "reject Russia's blatantly false accusations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its territory". Ukrainians and the West suspect that Russia is ready to detonate a "dirty bomb" itself to justify a military escalation.
(Unioneonline)