Ukraine successfully passes all checks regarding undeclared nuclear materials. The country remains a loyal member of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
«Biolabs», «nuclear burial ground», «dirty bomb» — Russian media have once again raised the old conspiracy theory about Ukraine’s «nuclear manipulations». This time, pro-Kremlin media claimed that «the US is importing radiochemical substances to Ukraine via Poland and Romania» and using them «to create a dirty bomb». Propaganda went further and stated that «warheads have already been delivered to the city of Zhovti Vody to the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant». StopFake examined these narratives in more detail.
photo 1 screenshot 5-tv.ru
Narrative: The Kyiv regime is preparing a provocation with a dirty nuclear bomb explosion. Warheads have already been delivered to the city of Zhovti Vody in the Dnipropetrovsk region to the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant.
Fact: The narrative about an alleged «dirty bomb» in Ukraine has been used by Russian propaganda for many years, but to little success. Ukraine has always remained open to international experts in the field of nuclear energy and does not undertake any prohibited actions, the Foreign Affairs Ministry emphasizes. The Ministry recalled that Ukraine has always been and remains a loyal member of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons — this is confirmed by facts, unlike Russian unfounded accusations.
IAEA experts regularly visit Ukrainian facilities and have never found any signs of prohibited activities on Ukraine’s part. For example, in August 2024, the IAEA mission inspected the South Ukraine NPP under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and in June, the Khmelnitsky NPP. The IAEA also conducted an in-depth inspection with additional access to the Hydrometallurgical Plant and the Smolyn uranium mine of the State Enterprise Eastern Mining and Processing Plant in Zhovti Vody. Ukraine successfully passed all checks for the absence of undeclared nuclear materials.
It is also worth recalling the Kremlin’s similar disinformation campaign, launched in October 2022. In response to Russian disinformation, the governments of the United States, France and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement. The document emphasized that all three countries «reject any blatantly false Russian claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.» To confirm Ukraine’s commitment to international nuclear standards, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba officially invited the IAEA mission to inspect nuclear facilities in the country. As expected, the IAEA experts did not find anything undeclared in Ukraine and no signs of Ukraine producing a «dirty bomb».
Narrative: The United States is importing radiochemical substances to Ukraine via Poland and Romania for further disposal. These substances could have been used to create a «dirty bomb».
Fact: This disinformation is not supported by facts. Any manipulation with nuclear waste is strictly monitored by the corresponding authorities. To ensure the safety of nuclear waste management, states at the global level have adopted the «Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management». According to the Convention, all waste must be stored exclusively on the territory of the state where it was produced — this applies to absolutely all countries in the world. Ukraine ratified the document in 2000 and strictly complies with it – numerous IAEA inspections, both scheduled and unscheduled, completely refute this Russian fake.
The StopFake team has repeatedly analyzed the Kremlin narrative about a «nuclear burial ground» in Ukraine. Read more in the article Fake: Ukraine Turning into a Nuclear Burying Ground, Facing a Second Chornobyl.
Narrative: The Ukrainian army has already used in battles toxic substances that could only have been synthesized in the United States. The Ukrainian Armed Forces used ammunition with chemical compounds that are similar to those used by the Germans in gas chambers.
Fact: In just a few sentences, propaganda managed to fit at least three disinformation narratives: about «external control», and about «secret» biolabs, and about Ukraine «violating» the methods of waging war with the «use of chemical weapons». And although our team has repeatedly refuted the first two fakes, then the third one – about «chemical weapons» – is worth dwelling on in more detail.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which operates under the auspices of the UN, has been closely monitoring any threats of using toxic chemicals as weapons.
In July 2024, a delegation of experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which operates under the auspices of the UN, arrived in Ukraine on the country’s invitation. The OPCW conducted a series of training on emergency response to incidents involving toxic chemicals. Moreover, at Ukraine’s request, the monitors delivered 70 LCD 3.3 detectors to the country — advanced devices that alert on detected and identified threats related to gasses and vapors at levels that pose an immediate danger to life and health or lower. The equipment requested by Ukraine will help to deprive Russia of any opportunity to use chemical weapons in Ukraine incognito.
In March 2024, the OPCW Executive Council rejected Russia’s accusations against Ukraine. Council members directly called the Kremlin’s narratives «a disinformation campaign aimed at creating confusion in the Council and discrediting the OPCW.» The Council noted the growing flow of data indicating that Russia is actively using toxic substances in the war against Ukraine. So any use of chemical weapons by Russia becomes another serious violation of international law and an escalation of the war against Ukraine, the OPCW Council believes.Read an analysis of similar narratives in the StopFake stories Fake: OPCW Failed to Refute Ukraine’s Use of Chemical Weapons and Fake: Ukraine Preparing a Provocation with Chemical Weapons, Following Syrian Example.
