Pro-Russian telegram channels disseminate  information about a large-scale provocation allegedly being prepared by Kyiv to accuse Russia of “dirty violation” of the requirements of the Nuclear Safety Convention. Allegedly, for this, barrels with radioactive substances were brought to the Odesa port of Chornomorsk, as a result of which the port workers received radioactive exposure. It is not true.

The information was denied by the head spokesman of the Odesa regional military administration Serhii Bratchuk. According to the VoxCheck fact-checkers, there is no confirmation of this information in official sources. “Odesa regional center for disease control and prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine” systematically conducts radiation observations and dosimetric control in the Odesa region, including the city of Chornomorsk. In recent days, the radiation background, both in Chornomorsk and in the Odesa region as a whole was normal, no deviations were recorded.

The narrative about possible Ukrainian provocations with the use of nuclear weapons or a “dirty bomb” has been nourished by Russian propaganda for a long time. In particular, in October they wrote that Ukraine was working on the creation of a “dirty” nuclear bomb, that Kyiv was preparing a provocation to detonate it. Propagandists also distributed fake photos allegedly proving the creation of a “dirty bomb” by Ukraine. Thus, Russia is resorting to nuclear blackmail and is trying to intimidate Ukraine and other democracies into negotiating on its own terms.