ISTANBUL

Ukraine on Friday reiterated its denial of Russian claims that it is working to create a “dirty bomb,” calling it propaganda.

“Russian propaganda is at it again, trying to fabricate the ‘dirty bomb’ story. I reiterate: Ukraine has never had, does not have, and has no plans to acquire ‘dirty bombs’,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.

"When Russia first dropped this hoax last year, we granted full access to the IAEA, which debunked this lie," he added.

Sergey Naryshkin, the head of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, on Monday claimed they received information that Ukraine may be continuing to work on the creation of a “dirty nuclear bomb,” calling on the IAEA and the EU to follow Kyiv’s actions in this regard.

Russia made similar claims last October, warning Western countries of a supposed plot by Ukraine to use the bomb that combines a conventional explosive, such as dynamite, with radioactive material on its own territory and then blame Moscow.

The West has already rejected the allegations, reaffirming its support for Ukraine against Russia.

"Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia's transparently false allegations that Ukraine [is] preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory," the foreign ministers of France, Britain and the US said in a joint statement last year.