ISW: Russian Shoigu attempts to intimidate NATO into stopping Ukraine assistance

Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu has threatened with the “dirty bomb”, attempting to slow down or completely halt the military assistance shown to Ukraine by the West.

Caliber.Az reports on this, citing the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) which believes those nuclear threats could also be meant to weaken the NATO alliance.

The analysts recall, that the minister made phone calls to his defence colleagues in Paris, Ankara, London and Washington on October 23 during which he claimed to possess proof of Kyiv's preparation of conducting a false-flag operation using radiological weapons that contain conventional explosives (also called “dirty bombs”) to blame Russia afterwards.

The ISW points out that the reports of the Defence Ministry regarding the phone contain slight differences:
 - during the call with the French minister, Shoigu claimed a "steady tendency towards further, uncontrolled escalation" was happening in Ukraine,
 - discussed "the situation in Ukraine" with his British, French and Turkish and made false claims that Ukraine was preparing to use a dirty bomb
 - yet simply discussed the situation in Ukraine without reference to a dirty bomb in his conversation with the US Defence Secretary

Representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, and Ukraine categorically denied and condemned Shoigu’s false allegations, while France and Turkey have not yet issued formal statements. US Secretary Lloyd Austin called his UK counterpart, Ben Wallace, following the calls with Shoigu.

The Kremlin has repeatedly claimed that Western states will help Ukraine conduct a false-flag operation attack since the earliest stages of the military escalations having started in February.

"Shoigu’s calls—and Russian state media’s amplification of false dirty bomb threats—are therefore likely intended to intimidate Western states into cutting or limiting support for Ukraine as Russia faces continued military setbacks and the likely loss of western Kherson by the end of the year", the ISW assessed the defence minister’s action.

The military analysts concluded their report by identifying Shoigu's recent calls as Russia’s attempt to possibly widen fissures within the NATO alliance rather than a hint of their imminent nuclear use.