Russia reacted yesterday with uneasiness to the announcement that the United States made on the eve that it will supply the Ukrainian army with projectiles with depleted uranium. The Kremlin and Russian diplomats assured that this step exacerbates the conflict, a common criticism in Moscow of the supply of any type of Western weapons to Kyiv. But this time he added the argument of the harm that this type of ammunition could cause to health and the environment.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Ryabkov stated that it is a “criminal act”. The number two in Russian diplomacy said that Washington’s announcement is not only “another step in increasing tension, but a reflection of Washington’s outrageous disregard for the environmental consequences of the use of this type of ammunition in the combat zone”.
The Kremlin added that the US will answer for the “very sad consequences” of its decision. Ingesting or inhaling uranium, even depleted uranium, is dangerous as it increases the risk of developing various types of cancer.
The Pentagon announced a new aid package for Ukraine on Wednesday that includes this type of 120mm caliber ammunition for the 31 M1 Abrams tanks promised by Washington last January and which are scheduled to arrive in Ukraine in autumn The new package, which includes military and civilian assistance worth more than one billion dollars, was announced on Wednesday by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Ukraine.
The decision of the Americans was made after three months of discussions. These bullets are credited with a very high effectiveness against the tanks of the Russian army, due to their high penetration capacity. This would help Kyiv break Russian lines in its grueling counteroffensive.
It will be the first time that the US has sent this kind of ammunition. He had previously promised to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs, known for their devastating effects wherever they explode. Britain has also promised Kyiv depleted uranium projectiles for its Challenger 2 tanks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the massive use of this type of ammunition in 1999 by NATO in the former Yugoslavia led to an increase in cases of cancer and other diseases. “These consequences were also suffered by later generations,” Peskov said at a press conference. According to him, this is exactly what will happen in Ukraine.
It is a clear sign of “inhumanity,” the Russian embassy in the US capital said in a statement on its Telegram channel. “Washington, obsessed with the idea of ??inflicting a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia, is ready to fight not only to the last Ukrainian, but also to put an end to future generations,” he added.
The controversy over these projectiles centers on the pollution they can leave behind. Senior US military officials have indicated that, although depleted uranium is a byproduct of the process to create enriched uranium, this munition does not pose a radioactive threat.
This argument is based on a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). This United Nations body has also said that studies in the former Yugoslavia, Kuwait, Iraq and Lebanon “indicated that the existence of depleted uranium waste dispersed in the environment does not pose a radioactive danger to the population of the affected regions”. However, he also assured that people who “come into direct contact with these objects could suffer the effects of radiation”.
In another report by the UN Environment Program on the impact in Serbia and Montenegro, they found “no significant and widespread pollution”. But Serbian politicians have questioned this and have reported that there is a higher incidence of malignant diseases caused by this type of uranium. Likewise, the International Coalition for the Prohibition of Uranium Weapons assures that ingesting, or even inhaling, depleted uranium dust can cause cancer and birth defects.
