War in Ukraine: Moscow warns of a risk of “uncontrollable escalation”

Published on: 23/10/2022 – 20:46 Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke on the phone this Sunday with his American, French, British and Turkish counterparts to discuss the conflict in Ukraine. Never since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine at the end of February, the Russian Minister of Defense had had so many exchanges with his counterparts in a single day. Sergei Shoigu expressed his fears to his Turkish and French counterparts and denounced the situation in Ukraine “which has a tendency to escalate uncontrollably”, according to the press release from the Russian army. He also expressed “his concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a ‘dirty bomb'”, added the same source. The Russian minister made the same remarks to the British Minister for Defense, in a rare telephone conversation between London and Moscow. Ben Wallace, the British minister, has “refuted” Russian claims that Western countries were facilitating an escalation of the war in Ukraine. the Russian fear of “a ‘dirty bomb’ strike by the Ukrainians on their territory, to blame it on Russia”. Sources that are credible in the eyes of Russian news agencies are indeed warning that kyiv could detonate such a device on its territory to accuse Moscow of using weapons of mass destruction as part of its military campaign. side, called the Russian conclusions “clearly false”, warning Moscow of any attempt to “use this allegation as a pretext for escalation”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, also rejecting these accusations, assured that they demonstrated that Russia was preparing “a new stage in the escalation”, and that the world had to respond “as harshly as possible”.► To read also: Ukraine: the undertones of the nuclear threat brandished by Russia Sergei Shoigu also spoke with Lloyd Austin, the head of the Pentagon. It is their second conversation since Friday and their third since the beginning of the conflict. This time, the Russian statement reporting on the interview did not mention the alleged use of a “dirty bomb” by the Ukrainians. These talks come as Russia faces a massive Ukrainian counter-offensive and denounces a “considerable increase” in Ukrainian fire on several Russian border regions. (With AFP)