Russia scaring Europe with "radiation cloud" from Ukraine

Currently, Russian propagandists have launched another fake in the media about a "radiation cloud" moving from Ukraine to Europe. The statement was made by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev. This was reported by the Comments.ua website.

After hitting a target in Khmelnytsky with a missile strike, the Russians began to claim that they had  struck a depot with depleted uranium shells. Numerous publications by Russian propagandists mentioned an alleged radiation cloud that moved to western Ukraine and later to Europe. Patrushev also contributed to the attempt to promote this fake.

At a meeting in the city of Syktyvkar on May 19, he said that "the destruction of depleted uranium ammunition provided by the West to Ukraine led to the emergence of a radioactive cloud." 

Earlier, the Slovak police denied these reports. It emphasises that the source of the rumours is "Russian and Slovak disinformation sources, secondary Kremlin propaganda in Slovakia, specific individuals and influential Facebook accounts." 

The Khmelnytsky Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine also denied the Russian fake. "After the terrorist attack that took place on May 13, 2023, in the suburbs of Khmelnytskyi, many rumours and unverified information appeared. In particular, Russian terrorists disseminated information on the release of harmful substances and environmental pollution as a result of the explosions," the official statement reads." The same day, specialists of the Khmelnytsky Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine conducted a study on the content of harmful substances in the air, checked the quality of water, soil and radiation background.

On May 17 this year, the institution conducted repeated tests. According to the results of these probes, it was found that the content of the studied chemicals in the air at the sampling sites does not exceed the maximum permissible concentrations.