Russia's Defence Minister held a phone call with his Indian counterpart. (File)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has told his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu that nuclear weapons should not be used by any side in the Ukraine war. Russia has been claiming that Ukraine plans to use a "dirty bomb". Kiev has refuted the allegation.
Here are the top 10 points in this big story:
- Rajnath Singh told Sergei Shoigu that the nuclear option "should not be resorted to by any side as the prospect of the usage of nuclear or radiological weapons goes against the basic tenets of humanity," read a government statement. He also reiterated the need for an early resolution to the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.
- Moscow has claimed that it has intelligence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's regime has ordered the development of a radioactive dirty bomb, which is in the final stages. It also said that he might have the backing of Ukraine's Western allies.
- On Sunday, the Russian Defence Minister made a series of phone calls to his counterparts in NATO to discuss the matter. The UN Security Council held closed-door consultations on Tuesday about Russian claims.
- Ukraine and its western allies have rejected Russia's allegations and said Moscow is using it as pretext for further escalation of the war. It is a ruse to distract attention from Kremlin's plans to use dirty bombs, Kiev said.
- Energoatom, the Ukrainian state enterprise which operates the country's four nuclear power plants, has claimed that Russian forces carried out secret construction work last week at the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
- Energoatom said it "assumes" that the Russians "are preparing a terrorist act using nuclear materials and radioactive waste stored at" the plant.
- It said there were 174 containers at the plant's dry spent fuel storage facility. Destruction of these containers through explosion "will lead to a radiation accident and radiation contamination of several hundred square kilometers," the company said.
- After Tuesday's UN Security Council meeting, Britain's deputy UN ambassador James Kariuki has told reporters that they saw and heard "no new evidence". The UK, France and the US called it "pure Russian misinformation".
- US President Joe Biden warned Russia against using a nuclear weapon. "Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake were it to use a tactical nuclear weapon" in the Ukraine war, he told reporters.
- Dirty bombs are conventional explosive devices that scatter radioactive waste. While they do not have the devastating destructive power of a nuclear explosion, they can expose broad areas to radioactive contamination. Security experts say they are used mostly a form of terrorist weapon.
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