Russian military chief speaks over phone with British, US counterparts

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that the country's Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov had separate phone talks with British Chief of the Defense Staff Adm. Tony Radakin and head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Alexander Milley.

"On October 24, 2022, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation -- the First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation -- Army General Valery Gerasimov had a telephone conversation with the Chief of the Defense Staff of the United Kingdom Admiral Antony Radakin," the ministry said in a statement.

The military chiefs discussed the possible use by Ukraine of a "dirty bomb" -- an explosive device with radioactive components.

The UK Defense Ministry said in a Twitter statement that Gerasimov and Radakin "agreed on the importance of maintaining open channels of communication" between the UK and Russia, while Radakin "rejected Russia's allegations that Ukraine is planning actions to escalate the conflict."

Meanwhile, Gerasimov discussed the same topic also with head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a separate statement.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Sunday that Ukraine was planning a provocation with the use of a dirty bomb to accuse Russia of using nuclear weapons and prompt Western countries to retaliate.

In a joint statement on Sunday, the US, France, and the UK rejected the Russian claims.

The statement said the defense ministers of the three nations spoke with Shoygu at his request, and they all rejected "Russia's transparently false allegations" that Kyiv will use the bomb as a provocation.

A dirty bomb or radiological dispersal device is a type of speculative radiological weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives.