The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation accused the SBU of preparing a provocation with radioactive contamination of the area in Kharkov

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation claims that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and militants of the Azov Battalion (an extremist organization banned in Russia, against whose fighters criminal cases have been initiated in the Russian Federation – ed.), are planning to blow up a reactor at the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology and accuse the Russian Armed Forces of launching a missile attack on an experimental nuclear facility.

Moreover, the Ministry of Defense said today, “Foreign journalists arrived in Kharkiv on March 6 to record the consequences of the provocation, followed by accusations of the Russian Federation of creating an environmental catastrophe,” TASS reports.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon did not comment on the statement of the RF Ministry of Defense that the SBU was preparing a provocation in Kharkov.

It should be noted that on the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a telephone conversation, “informed in detail” his French colleague Emmanuel Macron “about the provocation arranged (recently) by Ukrainian radicals in the area of ​​the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant with the involvement of a sabotage group.”

Recall that on February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and on February 24 he made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

In particular, Russian banks fell under the sanctions, including Sberbank, VTB, Novikombank, FC Otkritie and Sovcombank, and for a number of state-owned companies it was difficult to attract foreign capital.

Later, the EU countries and the United States agreed to disconnect Russian banks that fell under sanctions from the international system of interbank transactions and information exchange SWIFT. In addition, it was decided to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which will create difficulties for its use of international reserves. EU countries also pledged to take steps to limit the sale of citizenship — the so-called “golden passports” that allow wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government to become citizens of EU states and gain access to their financial systems. In addition, the European Union, the United States, Canada and a number of other countries have closed the sky for Russian aircraft.

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