ROSTOV-ON-DON REGION, RUSSIA – JULY 15, 2019: Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers detain two members of a cell of the Islamic State terrorist organization (banned in Russia). Video screen grab/ Russian Federal Security Service/TASS.
On June 23, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had detained five people who were trying to buy 1 kg of radioactive Cesium-137 for $3.5 million on behalf of a citizen of Ukraine.
In a statement, the security service said that the suspects planned to smuggle the radioactive substance aboard where it would be used to stage an incident with purported weapons of mass destruction aimed at discrediting Russia.
“The Russian Federation’s Federal Security Service, with the support of the Russian Interior Ministry, has detained five members of an organized crime group acting under the coordination of a citizen of Ukraine… The criminals, acting in the interests of a foreign customer, took steps to acquire 1kg of the caesium-137 isotope for $3.5 million to smuggle the radioactive substance from the Russian Federation to somewhere abroad for use to the detriment of Russian interests during the special military operation,” the statement reads, according to Sputnik.
A criminal case on the illegal handling and smuggling of radioactive substances has been opened. The suspects are in custody and are currently giving confessions, the FSB added.
Caesium-137 is used in gamma-defectoscopy, inspection and control complexes, measuring equipment, for radiation sterilization of food, medicines and drugs as well as in radiotherapy for treatment of malignant tumors.
The substance is one of the most important dose-forming radionuclides, products of uranium and plutonium fission. It can be used to make a “dirty bomb”.
A dirty bomb is not the same as an atomic bomb. It is a mix of explosives, such as dynamite, with radioactive powder or pellets. When the explosives are set off, the blast carries radioactive material into the surrounding area.
The plot to smuggle Russian Caesium-137 came just a few days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukrainian spies had received information showing Russia was considering carrying out an attack at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant involving a release of radiation.
Russia denied these accusations and said that Ukraine was planning to seize the nuclear plant and of shelling its facilities including those where nuclear fuel is stored. Moscow also accused Kiev of planning a dirty bomb attack on Russian territory.
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