US dismisses ‘transparently false’ Russian claims of Ukraine plan to use ‘dirty bomb’
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US dismisses ‘transparently false’ Russian claims of Ukraine plan to use ‘dirty bomb’

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US dismisses ‘transparently false’ Russian claims of Ukraine plan to use ‘dirty bomb’
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Antony Blinken joins Ukraine and UK in dismissing Moscow’s claim, saying the world will ‘see through’ any attempt to escalate conflict

Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions using a US-supplied howitzer in eastern Donetsk region on Sunday. The US and UK dismissed Russia’s claims that Ukraine plans to use a ‘dirty bomb’ on its own territory. Photograph: LIBKOS/AP

The US has rejected as “transparently false” Russia’s evidence-free claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory as part of an escalation of Vladimir Putin’s war.

Secretary of state Antony Blinken told his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Sunday “the world would see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation”, and vowed to continue supporting Kyiv for as long as necessary.

Earlier on Sunday, Kuleba denounced Moscow’s claims as “absurd” and “dangerous”, adding: “Russians often accuse others of what they plan themselves”.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky reacted swiftly to Moscow’s claims, calling for a united international response. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Zelenskiy said in a video address on social media. “I believe that now the world should react as harshly as possible.”

Zelenakiy said everyone “understands who is the source of everything dirty that can be imagined in this war. It was Russia who blackmailed with the radiation disaster at the Zaporizhzhia NPP [nuclear power plant].”

On Sunday, Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, spoke to his British, French and Turkish counterparts and claimed in all three meetings that Ukraine may use a “dirty bomb”, a conventional weapon containing radioactive material. Shoigu also spoke to Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin, but Moscow did not mention the dirty bomb allegations in its statement summarising that call.

The Russian minister cited no evidence for this claim as he warned of “possible provocations” on the part of Kyiv.

There is no evidence that Ukraine, which gave up its nuclear weapons in the 1990s, has any radioactive material in its military arsenal.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in a statement: “Shoigu alleged that Ukraine was planning actions facilitated by western countries, including the UK, to escalate the conflict in Ukraine. The defence secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation.”

The Institute for the Study of War said a “false flag” operation by Russia was unlikely, dismissing Shoigu’s calls as a sabre-rattling move designed to intimidate Ukraine’s western allies and split the Nato alliance.

Russia faces continued military setbacks, including the likely loss of western Kherson by the end of the year, it said.

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Violent Typhoon Mawar sets sights on Philippines, Taiwan and Japan after blow to Guam

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The powerhouse typhoon is the equivalent of a very strong Category 4 hurricane as it approaches the northernmost island of the Philippines before turning to the north, continuing its damaging path.

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Japan says scrambled fighter jets after Russian planes spotted

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The country’s defence ministry says Russian ‘intelligence-gathering’ aircraft spotted near its coasts along the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan.

Japan scrambled fighter jets after spotting Russian “intelligence-gathering” aircraft off its coasts along the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan on Thursday, the country’s defence ministry has said.

One Russian aircraft travelled from Japan’s north down along part of its west coast, while the other took a similar route along the opposite coast and returned the same way, the Joint Staff office run under the defence ministry said in a brief statement.

“In response, fighters of the Air Self-Defence Force’s Northern Air Force and other units were scrambled,” it added.

There was no further information on the incident, which comes days after Japan hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the summit of Group of Seven (G7) – a grouping of rich nations – in Hiroshima city.

Japan has joined Western allies in sanctioning Moscow over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and has warned of the threat posed by Russia.

Its latest security document, which once called for enhanced ties and cooperation with Russia, now warns that Moscow’s military posturing in Asia and cooperation with China are “a strong security concern”.

Last May, Chinese and Russian military jets carried out joint flights near Japan immediately after a meeting of the United States-led Quad grouping in Tokyo. India and Australia are other members of Quad.

And more recently, Moscow has carried out military exercises, including test-firing missiles, in the Sea of Japan.

Russia considers Japan to be a “hostile” country – a designation it shares with all European Union countries, the US and its allies, including the United Kingdom and Australia.

Tokyo had complex relations with Moscow before the invasion of Ukraine in February, and the two sides have yet to sign a post-World War II peace treaty.

Attempts to do so have been hampered by a long-running dispute over islands controlled by Russia, which calls them the Kurils.

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France bans short-haul flights to cut carbon emissions

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France has banned domestic short-haul flights where train alternatives exist, in a bid to cut carbon emissions.

The law came into force two years after lawmakers had voted to end routes where the same journey could be made by train in under two-and-a-half hours.

The ban all but rules out air travel between Paris and cities including Nantes, Lyon and Bordeaux, while connecting flights are unaffected.

Critics have described the latest measures as “symbolic bans”.

Laurent Donceel, interim head of industry group Airlines for Europe (A4E), told the AFP news agency that “banning these trips will only have minimal effects” on CO2 output.

He added that governments should instead support “real and significant solutions” to the issue.

Airlines around the world have been severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with website Flightradar24 reporting that the number of flights last year was down almost 42% from 2019.

The French government had faced calls to introduce even stricter rules.

France’s Citizens’ Convention on Climate, which was created by President Emmanuel Macron in 2019 and included 150 members of the public, had proposed scrapping plane journeys where train journeys of under four hours existed.

But this was reduced to two-and-a-half hours after objections from some regions, as well as the airline Air France-KLM.

French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir had earlier called on lawmakers to retain the four-hour limit.

“On average, the plane emits 77 times more CO2 per passenger than the train on these routes, even though the train is cheaper and the time lost is limited to 40 minutes,” it said.

It also called for “safeguards that [French national railway] SNCF will not seize the opportunity to artificially inflate its prices or degrade the quality of rail service”.

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