A viral video of a huge explosion near the city of Khmelnytskyi in Western Ukraine has been shared widely along with unverified claims that a "depleted uranium" storage facility was hit and reports that radiation levels were "rising" in the aftermath of the strike.
Concerns about the safety of Ukraine's nuclear facilities, including the Zaporizhzhia power plant currently under Russian control, as well as Moscow's nuclear sabre-rattling, have fueled fears of escalation throughout the 14-month Russia-Ukraine war.
But with little official commentary from Moscow or Kyiv about the Russian strikes on targets across Western Ukraine, which took place on the night of May 13, 2023, striking images of a huge explosion recorded near Khmelnytskyi added fuel to social media speculation and resurrected existing narratives about the so-called "depleted uranium" shells.