A group of would-be smugglers hoarding the radioactive isotope Cesium-137 was arrested by the Russian Security Service (FSB), which confirmed that if the smuggling had gone through, the buyers would have later used it to frame Russia in Ukraine.

With support from the Interior Ministry, five individuals were caught by FSB agents, who found that the group was acting “with coordination by a Ukrainian citizen” who was willing to pay $3.5 million for one kilogram of the product.

In the footage released by the FSB on Friday, four men carried the heavy container and put it inside a car trunk after which officers went in to make arrests. 

According to a statement by the FSB, the radioactive material was intended “to conduct an information-propaganda campaign to discredit the country internationally by staging scenes of the use of weapons of mass destruction."

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The material is only produced in nuclear fission reactions, such as in reactors and nuclear explosions.

Its anthropogenic nature alongside its ability to spread rapidly across large distances allows scientists to date pre-atomic-era objects by checking for traces of the element and products of its radioactive decay. It is also used for radiotherapy reasons and calibrating gamma radiation sensors.

With a relatively long half-life of 30 years and its salts easily soluble in water, it poses a serious contamination risk.

It is noteworthy that this is not the first time Kiev prepares to commit provocations and blame them on Moscow.

In fact, in late October 2022, Sputnik cited credible sources as saying that Ukrainian forces were preparing to use the "dirty bomb" in Ukraine to blame Russia for using nuclear weapons.

According to the sources, Kiev was planning on carrying out provocations on its own land using what is called the "dirty bomb" or a low-power nuclear weapon, with the aim being to accuse Russia of using weapons of mass destruction, which would lead to a smear campaign against Moscow.