Ukrainian forces (Archive)

Russian defense ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov affirmed, on Monday, that a provocation by Ukrainian nationalists resulted in an ammonia leak detected in the vicinity of the Ukrainian city of Sumy.

On his account, the head of Sumy Regional State Administration Dmitry Zhivitsky stated earlier in the day that an ammonia leak was discovered at a chemical facility, adding that the incident occurred at 4:30 a.m. local time (2:30 GMT).

Russia's defense ministry issued, on Saturday, a warning about the threat of provocations with toxic chemicals in the area by Ukrainian nationalists backed by the US and several EU countries in order to put the blame on the Russian army.

"In the city of Sumy, a planned provocation by Ukrainian nationalists, about which the Russian Ministry of Defense officially warned a few days ago, was carried out at night," he told reporters.

The official reiterated that Russia's armed forces have not planned and are not carrying out any attacks on Ukrainian facilities for the storage or production of toxic substances.

"The coordinates of all such facilities and data on poisonous substances stored there on the territory of Ukraine were obtained by us during the capture of combat documentation of the 4th brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard," he stressed.

He went on to say that Kiev is directly liable for any incidents involving Ukrainian facilities that store toxic substances.

At the beginning of this month, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukraine's Azov battalion is preparing for a provocation that could lead to radioactive contamination in Kharkov.

The Russian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov pointed out that Kiev wanted to accuse Russia of creating a radiation focus at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (NPP).

On March 9, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Ukrainian nationalists struck Chernobyl NPP's power supply.

It is worth mentioning that the Russian Defense Ministry has frequently warned that Ukrainian military and nationalist groups are planning grave provocations to blame on Moscow. So far, the West has ignored Russia's worries and warnings.