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NATO cautions Russia against ‘dirty bomb’ pretext
The leader of NATO cautioned Russia on Monday not to worsen the conflict in Ukraine by making untrue accusations that Kiev intends to detonate a fictitious “dirty bomb.”
Following repeated claims from Moscow that Ukraine may use such a weapon, Jens Stoltenberg intervened amid worries that Moscow might use one and place the blame on Kiev.
The leader of the US-led military alliance claimed to have discussed Russia’s baseless accusation that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory with Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin.
“NATO Allies reject this allegation. Russia must not use it as a pretext for escalation. We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine,” he wrote on Twitter.
Moscow has alleged that Ukraine is close to developing a dirty bomb, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted the threat is real.
“This is not empty information… there are serious suspicions that such things may be planned”, Lavrov said, adding: “We have a keen interest in preventing such a terrible provocation.”
But State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington is worried that Russia’s claims could be a cover.
“We have seen a pattern in this conflict and the lead-up to this war where the Russians have engaged in mirror imaging — the Russians have accused the Ukrainians, the Russians have accused other countries of what itself was planning. That is our concern”, Price said.
The head of the Russian army Valery Gerasimov repeated Moscow’s claims in a telephone call with his US counterpart on Monday, the defence ministry said.
The call was the latest in a string of conversations between Russian defence officials and counterparts from NATO countries, during which Moscow said, without providing evidence, that Kyiv was planning to deploy a dirty bomb.
In a statement on Monday, Russian Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov said: “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”.
At its most basic, a dirty bomb is a conventional weapon laced with radioactive, biological or chemical materials that are disseminated in an explosion.
Moscow’s claims follow weeks of military defeats for Russia in southern and eastern Ukraine, with observers and Kyiv saying the Kremlin is becoming increasingly desperate.
In Kyiv’s latest announcement of territorial gains, the Ukrainian military claims to have pushed Russian forces from several villages in the northeast of the country.
NATO cautions Russia against ‘dirty bomb’ pretext
Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting a summit of the BRICS inter-governmental organisation in the city of Kazan from Tuesday to Thursday.
The summit brings together 24 heads of state and government and is seen by Putin as part of an initiative to create a new world order to end the dominance of the U.S…
Prominent among the guests was Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Representatives from a total of 32 countries would attend.
The original members of BRICS are, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have been joined by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran among others.
The status of Saudi Arabia is yet unclear.
Russia, which currently chairs the organisation, announced that Saudi Arabia would be accepted as a member country at the start of the year.
But there has been no confirmation from Riyadh, and Saudi Arabia would be represented at the summit by its foreign minister.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said Saudi Arabia’s status would be cleared up at the summit.
Turkey is to participate as an interested party.
Speaking ahead of the summit, Putin said a central aim would be promoting financial cooperation and providing an alternative to the SWIFT network, through which international payments are routed.
Many Russian banks were banned from the network after its invasion of Ukraine.
Setting up a joint bank is also on the BRICS agenda.
A recent report from German insurer HUK Coburg shows a sluggish transition to electric vehicles among German car buyers, indicating that a small fraction of the population is fully embracing electric cars.
According to the report, only 3.9 per cent of private car owners opted for electric vehicles both new and used during the third quarter of this year.
The report reveals that the share of battery-powered cars within the private vehicle fleet saw a modest increase of just 0.1 per cent between July and September, reaching a total of 2.9 per cent.
As the market leader in motor vehicle insurance in Germany, HUK covers nearly 14 million insured vehicles.
The company analysed data from hundreds of thousands of drivers registering vehicles annually, retroactively calculating electric car rates in the private vehicle sector since early 2020.
In spite of a broader range of electric vehicle models and technical advancements, the shift to electric vehicles this year has regressed to 2021 levels.
This particularly followed the government’s decision to eliminate purchase incentives.
The company predicts that the overall national share of electric cars may grow at a slower pace this year compared to the previous four years.
The evaluation also reveals that over one-third of previous electric car owners have chosen combustion engines for their next vehicle purchase this year, raising concerns about a potential “fundamental acceptance problem” within the market.
Meanwhile, a representative survey conducted by YouGov, involving 4,147 participants, found that 17 per cent expressed intentions to transition from combustion engines to electric motors within the next two years.
However, even if these respondents follow through on their plans, HUK’s calculations indicate that Germany would still fall short of its target of 15 million purely electric cars by 2030.
Israel declared UN Chief Antonio Guterres “persona non grata” on Wednesday, accusing him of failing to specifically condemn Iran’s missile attack on Israel.
“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil,” said Foreign Minister Israel Katz in a statement.
“This is an anti-Israel Secretary-General who lends support to terrorists, rapists, and murderers,” he said.
Katz added that Guterres, who he said supported the “murderers of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Huthis, and now Iran, the mothership of global terror, will be remembered as a stain on the history of the UN for generations to come”.
Following Iran’s missile attack on Israel late Tuesday, Guterres condemned the “broadening conflict in the Middle East”, slamming “escalation after escalation” in the region.
“This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire,” said Guterres.
Israel has been a harsh critic of the UN, with ties between the state and the international body souring even more after the October 7 Hamas attacks.
Guterres has repeatedly called for a ceasefire to halt the fighting in both Gaza and Lebanon.
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