Russia accuses Ukraine of preparing nuclear false flag; warns of 'ecological catastrophe'

As the Russian invasion on Ukraine entered its 12th day on Monday, Moscow claimed that Ukrainian intelligence was preparing to carry out a "false flag" operation involving a nuclear reactor in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border.

The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, stated on Sunday that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) along with Ukrainian nationalists from the Azov battalion planned to blow up the reactor located in an experimental nuclear facility at the Institute of Physics and Technology in Kharkiv, where clashes took place between Russian and Ukrainian troops.

"The Russian Armed Forces will be accused of launching a missile attack on the experimental nuclear facility," the Ministry said, creating an ecological catastrophe.

"Ukraine destroying US-funded bioweapons"

Earlier on Monday, Russia's Defence Ministry also alleged that the Kyiv ordered the “emergency destruction” of pathogens including plague and anthrax at US-funded laboratories near the border as Russian troops made inroads into Ukraine. Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said that during Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, evidence of a US-financed military biological program developed in the country was revealed. 

“We have received documentation from employees of Ukrainian bio laboratories on the emergency destruction on February 24 of especially dangerous pathogens of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases,” read a statement from the Russian Ministry.

Konashenkov said, "In the course of the special military operation, evidence of the Kyiv regime’s hasty measures to conceal any traces of the military biological program, finance by the US Department of Defense in Ukraine, has been revealed". The Ministry further informed that the results of the analysis of the documents will be shared in near future.

Russia-Ukraine war

Russia's war on Ukraine has been denounced by the international community, with the European Union, UK, and the US among others imposing a range of economic sanctions on Moscow. 

At least 364 civilians have been killed and 759 others injured in Ukraine since Russia launched a war in the Eastern European country on February 24, according to UN figures, with the real toll, feared to be higher. More than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN Refugee Agency.