The UN's nuclear watchdog says it will carry out an "independent verification" of Russian allegations about the production of a dirty bomb in Ukraine this week.
IAEA inspectors will conduct their work at two locations in Ukraine, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said in a statement on October 27.
This follows a written request from Ukraine to send teams of inspectors to the locations, Grossi said.
Russia has accused Ukraine of preparing to use such a weapon and alleged that it is in the final stages of developing it.
A dirty bomb uses the explosion of a conventional warhead to spread radioactive, biological, or chemical materials over a wide area.
Kyiv and its Western allies have firmly denied the accusation and asserted that Russia has raised the dirty bomb claim because it might be planning to use one and blame it on Ukraine. This would provide Moscow justification for the use of conventional nuclear weapons.
Grossi said the inspectors would work to detect any diversion of nuclear material subject to safeguards and any undeclared production or processing of nuclear material at the two locations.
“The purpose of this week’s safeguards visits is to detect any possible undeclared nuclear activities and materials related to the development of 'dirty bombs,'" Grossi said in the statement.
The IAEA did not disclose the names of the sites but said it had inspected one of them a month ago and no undeclared nuclear activities or materials were found there.
Given the interest and urgency of this matter, the conclusions will be provided immediately to the IAEA board of governors and then to the public.
Speaking in Moscow earlier on October 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the IAEA to inspect Ukraine's nuclear sites "as fast as possible."
He said Kyiv's suggestion that the Russian accusation might mean Moscow plans to detonate a "dirty bomb" itself was false.
"We don't need to do that. There would be no sense whatsoever in doing that," Putin said.