Five people were detained for trying to export a kilogram of radioactive caesium-137 to use it to the detriment of Russian interests during a special operation, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said.
The Russian Federal Security Service said that those suspected of trying to smuggle caesium-137 out of the country to discredit Russia had been arrested and are confessing. A case was opened on the illegal handling and smuggling of radioactive substances.
"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 said.
The radioisotope caesium-137 is used in gamma-defectoscopy, in inspection and control complexes, in measuring equipment, for radiation sterilization of food, medicines and drugs, in radiotherapy for treatment of malignant tumors.
At the same time, radioactive caesium is one of the most important so-called dose-forming radionuclides - products of uranium and plutonium fission. It poses a great danger if ingested by humans.
According to experts, caesium-137 can be used to make a "dirty bomb".
Earlier, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Naryshkin said that information had recently appeared indicating that Kiev may continue to work on the creation of a 'dirty nuclear bomb' — a munition filled with explosives and radioactive substances, the explosion of which leads to radiation contamination of a vast territory.
Naryshkin also noted that the possible use of a "dirty nuclear bomb" by Kiev would have severe consequences for the life and health of the entire population and ecosystems of Eastern Europe.