MOSCOW: Moscow said Monday that Ukraine had nearly completed developing a "dirty bomb," after Russia's defence minister in calls with NATO counterparts claimed Kyiv's forces were planning to deploy the weapon. "According to the information we have, two organisations in Ukraine have specific instructions to create a so-called 'dirty bomb'. This work is in its final stage," Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said in a statement on Monday.

He said Kyiv was planning to accuse Russia of "using weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine and thus launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign in the world". The weapon would be composed of radioactive elements "creating radioactive contamination over large areas, and potentially also leading to radiation diseases" after detonation.

Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said UN nuclear agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi accepted his request to "urgently send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine which Russia deceitfully claims to be developing a dirty bomb." The United Kingdom, the United States and France issued a joint statement dismissing the claim earlier on Monday. "Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia's transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory," according to the statement.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the reaction from the West was "in line with their reckless support for their protege (Ukraine President Volodymyr) Zelensky, their indulgence for his Russophobic actions and destruction of civilian population," during a press conference Monday. Zelensky on Sunday refuted the accusation and called for a harsh answer from the West. "If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this," Zelensky said in a video address on social media.

Meanwhile, a presenter with state-funded Russian television channel RT apologised on Monday after being suspended for calling for the burning of Ukrainian children. "I apologise to everyone who was stunned by this. I apologise to Margarita, to everyone who found these comments wild, unthinkable," Anton Krasovsky, a 47-year-old pro-Kremlin pundit under Western sanctions, said on Telegram.

Margarita Simonyan, the chief editor of RT, formerly called Russia Today, during the night from Sunday to Monday announced the channel was suspending its work with Krasovsky over his "wild and disgusting statement". Krasovsky's comments last week sparked an uproar on social media, after he responded to a guest talking about meeting Ukrainian children in the 1980s who said they saw Russia as an occupier in Soviet times.

These children "need to be drowned... shove them into their huts and burn them up," Krasovsky said. Simonyan, who has been a fierce supporter of Russia's military action in Ukraine, said on Monday she wanted to "warn those who call for atrocities. Don't do it."

The Russian investigative committee, which looks into serious crimes, said it had ordered a probe into the incident after a viewer complained. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday called on governments to "ban RT worldwide", accusing the channel of "aggressive genocide incitement".

Krasovsky had previously said on air that Ukraine "should not exist, and we are doing everything to make sure it does not." Accused of spreading Kremlin propaganda, RT has been blocked in most Western countries since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine on February 24. - AFP