What is a ‘dirty bomb’ and why is Russia saying Ukraine could use one?

Russia claims Ukraine is readying to usage a soiled weaponry - a instrumentality containing radioactive worldly arsenic good arsenic accepted explosives.

Ukraine has rejected Russia's allegations, on with France, the UK and the US.

Russian defence curate Sergei Shoigu told the UK's defence secretary, Ben Wallace, successful a telephone telephone that helium was "concerned astir imaginable provocations by Kyiv involving the usage of a soiled bomb".

He besides made akin comments to his other numbers successful the US, France and Turkey.

Its comments person been rejected by the overseas ministers of France, the UK and the US, who said Russia had made "transparently mendacious allegations".

Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of being "the root of everything soiled that tin beryllium imagined successful this war".

It is simply a weaponry that contains radioactive material, specified arsenic uranium, which is scattered done the aerial erstwhile its accepted explosive detonates.

It doesn't request to incorporate highly refined radioactive material, arsenic is utilized successful a atomic bomb. Instead, it could usage radioactive materials from hospitals, atomic powerfulness stations oregon probe laboratories.

This makes them overmuch cheaper and quicker to marque than atomic weapons. They tin besides beryllium carried successful the backmost of a vehicle, for example.

Because radioactive fallout tin origin superior illnesses, specified arsenic cancer, specified a weaponry would origin panic among the targeted population.

A wide country astir the blast portion would besides person to beryllium evacuated for decontamination, oregon abandoned completely.

The Federation of American Scientists has calculated that if a weaponry containing 9g (0.3oz) of cobalt-60 and 5kg of TNT were to beryllium exploded astatine the extremity of Manhattan, successful New York, it would marque the full country of the metropolis uninhabitable for decades.

For this reason, soiled bombs are known arsenic weapons of wide disruption.

However, arsenic weapons, they are precise unreliable.

For the radioactive worldly successful a soiled weaponry to beryllium scattered crossed its people zone, it has to beryllium reduced to pulverization form. But if the particles are excessively good oregon released into beardown winds, they volition scatter excessively wide to bash overmuch harm.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said Russia's defence curate "likely sought to dilatory oregon suspend Western subject assistance to Ukraine and perchance weaken the Nato confederation successful scare-mongering calls".

There has besides been speculation that Russia is readying to detonate a soiled weaponry successful Ukraine itself and pin the blasted connected Ukrainian forces successful a "false flag" attack.

However, galore subject analysts accidental Russia would not beryllium this foolhardy, fixed the harm a soiled weaponry could bash to its ain troops and the territory nether its control.

The ISW itself has said: "The Kremlin is improbable to beryllium preparing an imminent false-flag soiled weaponry attack."

There has not yet been a palmy dirty-bomb onslaught anyplace successful the world.

However, determination person been attempts.

In 1996, rebels from Chechnya planted a bomb containing dynamite and caesium-137 successful Moscow's Izmailovo Park.

The caesium had been extracted from cancer-treatment equipment.

Security services discovered its determination and it was defused.

In 1998, Chechnya's quality work recovered and defused a soiled weaponry that had been placed near a railway enactment successful Chechyna.

In 2002, Jose Padilla, a US national who had contacts with al-Qaeda, was arrested successful Chicago connected suspicion of readying a dirty-bomb attack. He was fixed a 21-year situation sentence.

Two years later, Dhiren Barot, a British nationalist and al-Qaeda member, was arrested successful London and subsequently jailed for 30 years for plotting violent attacks successful the US and the UK that would person included the usage of a soiled bomb.

However, neither Padilla nor Barot had begun assembling their bombs earlier they were arrested.