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On a call with several NATO countries, Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, said that authorities in Kyiv were preparing to escalate the conflict in Ukraine by detonating a "dirty bomb".

He said he was "concerned about possible provocations by Kyiv involving the use of a dirty bomb".

A 'dirty bomb' is the name for a weapon that combines conventional explosives with radioactive substances. This is not the same as an atomic bomb. They are designed to spread radioactive material.

Ukraine has condemned the unsubstantiated claims and president Volodymyr Zelensky said this meant Russia itself could be preparing an attack of this kind.

Ukraine's allies also dismissed the claims, with the US saying it "rejected any pretext for Russian escalation".

Keir Giles from Chatham House, a foreign affairs think tank, says that this latest development in Russia's tactics is "a sign of desperation".

(Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu attend a ceremony opening the international military-technical forum Army-2022. Credit: Maxim Shemetov via Reuters)

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