The current “dirty bomb” scare isn’t Russia’s first encounter with the concept. A Dudįor all the press attention that has been given to the possibility of a “dirty bomb” being used in Ukraine, history shows that despite the hype, a “dirty bomb” is not a weapon that is either easily produced or procured or causes the kind of mass casualties its proponents hope for. Ukraine is requesting that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) send a team to Ukraine to investigate. There would be consequences for Russia whether it uses a dirty bomb or a nuclear bomb. “We’ve been very clear with the Russians … about the severe consequences that would result from nuclear use,” said U.S. In return, Western governments on Monday accused Russia of plans to deploy a dirty bomb. Security Council on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Russia is to raise the matter at the U.N. (It turned out that the allegations of Sarin use were false the jury is still out about the use of commercial chlorine as a weapon.) Russia is not only concerned about the immediate impact of Ukraine detonating such a devise in terms of the harm that would be done to people and the environment, but also about the potential for such an event to be used by Ukraine’s western allies to directly intervene militarily in the ongoing conflict, similar to what occurred in Syria when allegations about the use of Sarin nerve agent by the Syrian government against civilians were used by the U.S., U.K., and France to justify an attack on Syrian military and infrastructure targets. I n the span of a few hours on Sunday, the senior-most Russian defense authorities–Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu and General Gennady Gerasimov– called their counterparts in the U.S., U.K., France, and Turkey, with the same message–Ukraine is preparing to detonate a so-called “dirty bomb”- high explosive-wrapped radiological material, designed to contaminate large areas with deadly radioactive isotopes.

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