Russian President Vladimir Putin escalated the nuclear threat once again on Tuesday after promising to respond “accordingly” to UK plans to send munitions containing depleted uranium (DU) to Ukraine.
“I would like to emphasize here that if this happens, Russia will be forced to react accordingly, bearing in mind that the collective West is starting to use weapons with a nuclear component,” he said after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to the Russian news.
Putin’s comments came after the British Defense Ministry said it would supply Ukraine with ammunition for the Challenger 2 tanks London has promised Kiev, which includes armor-piercing shells that contain depleted uranium.
Challenger 2 main battle tanks are displayed for the Royal Tank Regiment Regimental Parade, on 24th September 2022, in Bulford, England. (Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)
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The Kremlin chief did not elaborate on the thinly veiled threat, nor did he clarify whether he was suggesting that Russia would turn to its nuclear arsenal in response, something Moscow has repeatedly threatened to do throughout the war.
Ammunition with depleted uranium is still considered radioactive, even though, according to the European Union, depleted uranium is used in armor-piercing shells and ammunition because it gives them more “penetrative power”.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova took to Telegram to condemn the munitions deliveries and likened it to a “Yugoslav scenario”, referring to when NATO forces used munitions containing depleted uranium during the Kosovo conflict at the time. late 90s.
“These bullets not only kill, but they infect the environment and cause cancer in the people who live on these lands,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a video conference meeting in the Moscow Kremlin on Friday, March 17, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin pool photo via AP)
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An EU summary on the impact of depleted uranium in munitions found that “residues from combat zones generally show low concentrations of the metal, within the range of natural uranium, although there may also be small numbers of” hot spots”. “
However, some reviews of its overall safety from exposure have been mixed, and a report from the US Department of Veterans Affairs said that depleted uranium is still considered a “health hazard” if it enters the human body through shrapnel or inhalation, although radiation sickness remains unlikely.
“All uranium isotopes are radioactive. Depleted uranium is appreciably less radioactive – usually about 40% less – than unprocessed uranium,” the EU report notes. “This means that uranium radiation hazards arise only from inhaling dust, eating or drinking contaminated food or water, or entering shrapnel into the body.
“Urine samples from active service soldiers and civilians living in areas where depleted uranium munitions have been used typically indicate very low levels of depleted uranium exposure,” the report adds.
Rebekah Koffler, a former Defense Intelligence Agency intelligence officer for Russian doctrine and strategy, explained that these munitions have become commonplace in modern warfare and that Moscow is using the rhetoric to “confuse the public”.
“Depleted uranium is used by the US and NATO in munitions to increase its destructive power, to pierce armor. But the Russians have also started using it,” he said.
“As of about 2018-2019, their T-80BV main battle tank fires depleted uranium shells,” Koffler explained. “Putin is trying to confuse the public, to find a pretext for further escalation actions in Ukraine.”
A Ukrainian serviceman smokes on top of a tank near Bakhmut, Ukraine, March 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeny Maloletka)
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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also raised the possibility of Russia retaliating with a nuclear response when he told reporters on Tuesday that there were fewer steps before a “nuclear collision” between Russia and the West occurred.
“Another step has been taken, and fewer and fewer remain,” he said according to Reuters.
