With Ukrainian troops advancing into Russian territory and reportedly encircling Russian troops in Kursk, the Kremlin is stepping up its disinformation war.
Russia’s hybrid war strategies include efforts to limit independent reporting from the front line by targeting foreign journalists reporting on Ukraine’s counteroffensive in Kursk with criminal cases and diplomatic threats.
The Kremlin also revived its nuclear scarecrow, with top state officials and media warning of Kyiv’s plans to attack nuclear plants and radioactive waste sites. The unfounded allegations spill over into the Western media, hijacking the news cycle.
President Vladimir Putin spoke about Kyiv’s plans to strike nuclear facilities days after Ukrainian troops crossed the Russian border on August 6. He provided no details or evidence.
Putin repeated the unfounded accusations on August 22, claiming Russia delivered evidence of Ukraine’s “attempted strike” on the nuclear plant in Kursk to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he will visit the Kursk nuclear plant next week to assess the Russian allegations.
Kyiv said last week that Ukraine is committed to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and has no plans to attack any nuclear sites.
Ukraine said that Putin’s accusations are mere propaganda, and that Russia alone would benefit from a scenario that enables it to paint Kyiv as a “nuclear terrorist” and sabotage international support for its self-defense.
Russian scientist, political writer and analyst Andrei Piontkovsky told VOA that Russian “nuclear warning propaganda” and accusations against Kyiv are absurd.
“Ukraine's victory, and therefore its survival as a country, very seriously depends on Western military aid. Western support would significantly weaken or even cease should any nuclear incidents occur due to Kyiv's fault,” Piontkovsky said.
Meanwhile in Russia, high-ranking officials, along with nearly every media outlet in the country, are intensifying talk of an alleged Ukrainian nuclear assault, including on the Kursk and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants, and preparations to strike radioactive waste sites.
Below are examples of recent Russian media reports and claims from state officials.
On August 10, Alexey Likhachev, general director of Rosatom, which oversees the Kursk plant, warned of a "real danger of strikes and provocations" from Ukrainian forces’ alleged targeting of the nuclear plant.
On August 12, pro-Kremlin television channel Tsargrad, citing political scientist Vladimir Kornilov, reported that Ukrainian troops may decide to attack the Zaporizhzhia plant while all of Russia’s attention is focused on the Kursk region.
On August 16, the Russian-appointed administration of the Ukrainian Kharkiv Oblast, a small portion of which is controlled by Moscow, claimed that Ukrainian leaders were planning to target Russian nuclear facilities, including the Zaporizhzhia and Kursk plants. They alleged that the goal is to accuse Russia of provocations such as self-shelling later.
On August 17, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to be seriously considering reports of Kyiv's alleged plans to attack the Kursk NPP. The aim of such a provocation is to accuse Russia of "self-shelling" the plant, creating a pretext for targeting Ukrainian nuclear facilities, Russia Today reported.
Later, Russians added to their accusations Ukraine's alleged plans to strike radioactive waste sites.
On August 16, Russian military blogger Marat Khairullin claimed in the Telegram messenger app that Ukraine is targeting spent nuclear fuel storage in Russia's Kursk region, preparing to detonate what he called a "dirty bomb.” The post, although not backed with any facts, received more than half a million views. Russian state news media, including Russia Today, cited Khairullin’s unverified allegations in its reporting.
A dirty bomb is a weapon improvised from radioactive waste and conventional explosives.
RIA Novosti cited an anonymous source from an unspecified law enforcement agency saying that Ukraine targets spent nuclear fuel storage facilities at the Kursk and Zaporizhzhia nuclear plants to launch “dirty bombs” with radioactive substances.
Russia’s largest media outlets reported the allegations citing RIA Novosti in the next two days.
U.S. officials have consistently rejected similar claims as baseless and part of Russia's broader disinformation campaign.