The West has long suspected Moscow of being ready to carry out a major 'false flag' operation - launching an attack but blaming the Ukrainians and then using the carnage as a pretext for a further escalation by the Russian side. Security and Defence Editor @haynesdeborah Russia has engaged in an unusual burst of contact with the West's three nuclear powers to raise baseless claims about a dirty bomb plot in Ukraine, amid fears of further escalation. In the past 48 hours, Vladimir Putin's defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has spoken to his respective counterparts in the US, the UK and France, while the Russian president's top military chief, General Valery Gerasimov, has separately spoken to his US and UK counterparts. Russia used the conversations, which it initiated, to claim that Ukraine is preparing to deploy a 'dirty bomb' on its own territory - an allegation strongly rejected by the allies. A dirty bomb is an explosive device laced with radioactive material. The West has long suspe